'Late Due to Traffic No Ground for Re-Exam': Allahabad HC Rejects JEE Candidates' Pleas

After three JEE aspirants missed their exam allegedly due to traffic restrictions caused by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s convoy, the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) dismissed their petition seeking a retest, citing lack of any enforceable legal right.

The bench of Justice Jaspreet Singh noted that while the court sympathised with the petitioners, the legal framework did not permit issuing a writ of mandamus to direct the National Testing Agency (NTA) to hold a fresh exam for them. "...the fact remains that in order to issue a writ of mandamus, there has to be a legal right and its consequential denial or refusal," court stressed.

The petition was filed by Rida Fatima Khan and two other candidates, who were scheduled to appear for the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) – 2025 (Session 2) on April 2 in Lucknow. According to the plea, the candidates were stuck in a traffic blockade around 1:30 PM at Samta Mulak Chauraha, Gomti Nagar, due to the passing of the Chief Minister’s fleet. As a result, the petitioners claimed they could only reach their centre—Azad Technical Campus—at 2:35 PM, five minutes past the entry deadline of 2:30 PM.

Despite requests, the petitioners said, they were denied entry by the exam centre administration. With the exam being held across multiple days till April 8, they urged the court to direct authorities to permit them to appear on an alternate date.

However, the court was unconvinced. It held that the petitioners had not demonstrated any legal right entitling them to a re-examination. The judge highlighted that NTA’s published guidelines clearly advise candidates to report two hours in advance, warning that late arrivals—even due to unforeseen circumstances like traffic jams—cannot be accommodated.

“Even though the petitioners have the legal right to appear in the examination,” the court observed, “but the same is qualified as per the instructions issued by the testing agency which is within their domain. In case of breach of following the instructions and more particularly on reaching late on account of traffic jam, then the petitioners cannot seek re-examination on some other date nor there is any legal obligation of the respondent no.2 (testing agency).”

The court also took note of the lack of clarity in the petitioners’ case. It pointed out that the three aspirants were residents of different locations and had not provided sufficient evidence to show they were caught in the same traffic jam or had travelled together.

“There is no averments that all three petitioners were either travelling together or were in the same traffic jam,” the court remarked, underscoring the absence of specific facts that could establish a collective impediment to reaching the venue on time.

Ultimately, court declined to intervene, ruling that the petitioners failed to establish any statutory or legal basis to compel the NTA to conduct a separate exam.

Case Title: Rida Fatima Khan And Others Vs UOI and Others

Download judgment here