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A Supreme Court bench of Justices Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Bela Trivedi today dismissed a plea challenging a notification issued by National Testing Agency (NTA) dated 1st March 2022 reducing the sessions of JEE mains from 4 to 2. The court however gave the petitioners liberty to approach the authorities and make a representation in this regard.

When the matter came up for hearing, the counsel for the petitioners submitted that reducing the sessions will make the examination difficult to attempt. The counsel further submitted that “given the fact that 50% of the students appearing in JEE are also appearing in board examination as well, the students will have a tough time preparing for it”. He further submitted that the amended notification for reduction came on 14th March 2022 for the examination to be held on 21st April 2022, thereby putting the aspirants in great difficulty.

The court on hearing the submissions noted that they cannot interfere in the matter as it is a policy decision as NTA has not changed the eligibility, course content or the syllabus. The court noted that the petitioners are aggrieved by a notification of 1st March 2022 as amended on 14th March 2022 by which 2 sessions have been granted for appearing in JEE Mains 2022 as opposed to 4 that were followed in the previous years.

The court noted that, since the matter pertains to policy domain it cannot interfere with it. The court noted that the petitioners may submit a representation to the authorities in this regard, however the decision of the authority will not form the basis for further litigation.

Case title: Krishna Rana Vs National Testing Agency