The Supreme Court of India has called for responses from the Centre and relevant educational bodies concerning a petition about the eligibility criteria for the JEE-Advanced 2025 examination. This directive affects students who completed their Class 12 exams in 2023 and are aspiring to enter prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih, overseeing the case, have issued notices to the Centre, the Joint Admission Board (JAB), and other concerned entities. The JAB is responsible for conducting the JEE-Advanced, which is a crucial step for admission into the IITs.
The petition, representing 18 IIT hopefuls from the 2023 Class 12 cohort, challenges their exclusion from the JEE-Advanced 2025 despite being eligible for a final attempt at the JEE-Mains in the same year. The petition underscores a discrepancy in the number of allowable attempts between the JEE-Mains and the JEE-Advanced, which the students argue is unfair and discriminatory.
Senior advocate Shadan Farasat, representing the petitioners, alongside advocate Mrinmoi Chatterjee, pointed out the abrupt policy changes by the JAB. Initially, in November 2024, the JAB increased the permissible attempts for the JEE-Advanced from two to three, only to retract this extension within two weeks, thereby reverting to the original two-attempt limit.
“This abrupt and arbitrary policy reversal has not only confused the aspirants but has also unfairly disadvantaged a significant number of students,” stated Farasat during the hearing.
The petition further argues that the limitation to only two attempts for the JEE-Advanced as opposed to up to six attempts for the JEE-Mains over three years is “irrational, discriminatory, and inherently arbitrary.” This disparity, they claim, restricts equal opportunities for students across different academic years.
In a related case earlier this year, the Supreme Court noted discrepancies in the JAB’s announcements regarding eligibility criteria, which had led some students to withdraw from their courses based on the initial extension of attempts. These students were later affected by the sudden policy reversal.
