The Centre has finally submitted its response to the Bombay High Court on the case regarding the relaxation of the 75 per cent eligibility criteria in the JEE Main 2023 exam. In its reply, the government has elaborated on the circumstances under which the said eligibility criteria was implemented.
According to the present guidelines of National Testing Agency (NTA, the body which conducts JEE Main), students who have obtained a minimum of 75 per cent marks in their Class XII exam, or have secured a place among the top 20 percentile in their respective state board, are eligible to seek admission through JEE Main. The government has informed that the criteria were approved by the Joint Admission Board (JAB) of IITs in the year 2014.
Later, in 2016, the criteria were adopted for JEE Main under the directions of the Ministry of Education, informs the counter affidavit, and implemented from the 2017-18 academic year. It states that the criteria were relaxed during 2020 due to the pandemic, with clear notice that it was a one-time measure.
However, since the pandemic situation prevailed in 2021 and 2022, the criteria were relaxed for those years as well, again with the one-time measure notice "thereby indicating that the said requirement has been the norm, and an exception was made by relaxing the said requirement". For the 2023-24 academic year, the issue was deliberated upon, and the JEE Apex Board (JAB) Main "decided to continue with the practice" and was informed via a public notice dated 15.12.2022.
"Therefore, it is respectfully submitted that the requirement of securing minimum 75% marks in Class 12/qualifying examination or being in top 20 percentile in Class 12 examination conducted by the respective boards for admission in NITs, IITs, and other CFTIs/GFTIs is a conscious, well considered and sound policy decision taken with the approval of JEE Apex Board (JAB)," the reply affidavit says.
"The averment that the 75 percent criteria came as a bolt from the blue and other averments in that regard are incorrect and baseless. Moreover, it is respectfully submitted that the Petitioner and Applicant cannot stake a claim to the continuation of exception made to Rule i.e. relaxation of the said eligibility criteria as a matter of right," the document states further.
The affidavit is in response to...
The reply comes in the wake of a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) filed by Advocate-activist Anubha Sahai challenging the eligibility criteria in January with the Bombay High Court, on grounds that it was implemented all of a sudden and is unfair, as several students lose an opportunity to seek admissions through JEE Main 2023. The plea had also sought that a third attempt be allowed for the exam.
To this, the Centre replies, "It is respectfully submitted that the prayer of conducting another session i.e Session III in the month of May 2023 is unsustainable and requires to be rejected. It is stated that conducting another session will have an adverse cascading effect on the entire academic calendar, and all the subsequent activities including counselling and admissions will be delayed thereby eventually affecting academic activities thereafter."
Apart from this, the Centre has cited logistic issues, like the availability of suitable infrastructure and manpower, for the conduction of another session. The next hearing of the case is on May 2, 2023.
