Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 75% eligibility criteria relaxation hearing will resume today, May 3, at the Bombay High Court. 

During the hearing yesterday, May 2, petitioner Anubha Shrivastava Sahai argued that students who took a drop due to COVID-19 will not be eligible this year. She also pointed out that many states have not released the data for the top 20 percentile since 2019.

On the other hand, as per LiveLaw, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh said on behalf of the National Testing Agency (NTA) that despite being implemented in 2017, the criteria have not been challenged yet. He further explained, “In 2021 and 2022, the condition remained in the brochure but we issued a separate letter that the relaxation was one time due to COVID-19. So, it is not that we have removed the condition at any time. It always existed.”

 To recall, the eligibility criteria state that a student should have at least 75% marks in their Class XII Board exams or be in the top 20 percentile of their respective Boards to be eligible for admission to IITs or NITs. The criteria was scrapped for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when the NTA reinstated the criteria this year, the decision was met with backlash from the aspirants. The backlash is what led to the court case.