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Synopsis

A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne on Tuesday refused to postpone the exams of JEE Mains which are scheduled from 21 January 2023 to 31 January 2023.

The High Court while refusing to postpone the exams said, “If any orders are passed today directing postponement of the exam, the same may have a cascading effect on future exams”.

The High Court further noted that the JEE Mains is conducted twice and if any student does not fare well in January then, he can compete in April.

The Petitioner argued that only 4 attempts are allowed for students and that if he does not perform well in January he may lose a chance. The bench responded to the advocate for the petitioner and said that the student can appear in April. The Court said, “Every Chance counts. He can choose not to appear in January”

The Court further said that the PIL may affect 50 thousand students but not 5 lakh students. The bench pointed out that in educational cases the power of the judiciary is negligible and that is a judgment of the Supreme Court that even if the policy is not good, the courts cannot interfere.

With respect to the 75% eligibility criteria, the petitioner said that he had received a reply from the National Testing Agency and a reply will be filed.

The petitioner had prayed for the postponement of the January exams to April and the exams of April to May.

The petitioner in his plea submitted that dates were announced 40 days prior to the exam and that the dates are usually announced 3-4 months prior. Further, the said exams clash with the board practical exams, pre-board exams, and internal assessments of various boards.

The petitioner has also challenged the 75% eligibility criteria in class 12. The petition stated that the students appearing for the exam are from the pandemic batch and that they were assessed on different scales and parameters which may not reflect their true capabilities. It stated that there may be students who were assigned less than 75% but could perform better in the JEE Mains Exams and that if a fair chance was not given to them it may affect their future.

Case Title: Anubha Srivastava Sahai v. National Testing Agency and Ors.