Setback for student as he fails to get interim relief from Gujarat HC to appear for JEE- Advanced

As per the response sheet uploaded on the official website, which he downloaded around 7.03 am on April 20, he had attempted all the 75 questions. However, when the student downloaded the response sheet a second time at 1.15 pm the same day, it indicated that the student had not attempted a single question.

After a lengthy hearing on Thursday, the court did not pass any order and kept the matter for June 8. This effectively means the student cannot appear for the JEE Advanced examination in the absence of the court’s specific direction.

The student moved the Gujarat High Court claiming that a technical glitch could have wiped off the answers attempted by him. Submitting that the JEE Advanced is scheduled on June 4 and the form filling ends on May 7, he sought directions from the HC.

Taking into consideration the approaching last date of applying for JEE Advanced, and the extreme results indicated for the same student in the two response sheets “which is difficult to believe”, the Gujarat HC on May 5 had permitted the student to file the application for JEE Advanced and had directed IIT Guwahati, which is conducting the exams this year, to accept his application. The court had, however, added that the said direction to the IIT is “without prejudice to rights and contentions of respective parties and will be subject to further orders passed by this court.”

Advocate Dhaval Vyas, on behalf of the student, made repeated requests to the court of Justice SV Pinto on Thursday that the student be allowed to sit for the Advanced exam while simultaneously conducting a forensic examination of the student’s computer where he had downloaded the response sheets, the response sheet downloaded at 7:03 am as well as a screen recording by the student of him downloading the response sheet at 7:03 am.

It was the student’s case that if the forensic analysis proved any wrongdoing on the student’s part, he is ready to face the consequences, but in case the records are proven to be authentic then an irreversible damage will be caused to the meritorious student as he will lose a year.

Vyas submitted, “It seems that the issue is taken up as an ego issue (by the NTA)…let it go to the forensic lab, we have no difficulty. The download of the pdf shows it is of 7:03 am. We are sure about our records and we are ready to give our computer to FSL…We have not touched the computer from the date of filing of petition. We are ready not only to give the virtual records but also the computer for verification. The whole effort is to save a year for the child. We are aware of the consequences (in case the screen recording turns out to be doctored, which would then count as the student resorting to unfair means and practices).”

NTA’s advocate K V Shelat, however, countered the statements. “We are not making this a prestige issue but when we have successfully done the work of examination of 11.40 lakh students, making allegations that there is technical glitch, there is no technical glitch…,” Shelat said.

Shelat added that there are 150 ‘log ins’ and ‘log outs’ shown from the record of NIC with the student’s details on the website where the response sheets were uploaded. Of the 11.40 lakh candidates who appeared in the Mains examination, a glitch only in the case of the student cannot be an exception. As per NTA, there are only two such cases alleging glitch in the entire country, Shelat argued.

Vyas, however, challenged Shelat to make such a submission on oath. “Let that statement come after verifying… some may not have approached court..let my friend (Shelat) take instructions and make that statement. He will not make that statement…These are their (NTA’s) theories, their (NTA’s) instructions, we have no access to what is being undertaken…If I clear JEE advanced, I’m entitled to IITs, let my results be kept in abeyance. In the meantime, let this be verified. If the FSL report comes against us, I can be debarred or be faced with other consequences,” Vyas said. “Why is the government shying away from getting this scrutinised? I’m not asking for their records to be accessed. I’m saying, access my records,” Vyas said.

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