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SC allows JEE aspirants who quit college based on Nov 5 notification to register for Advanced

JEE Advanced Supreme Court Hearing: The petitioners had claimed that they had cleared their Class 12 exams in 2023 and were already enrolled in engineering colleges, but they started preparing for JEE Advanced 2025 when the number of available attempts was increased from two to three.

SC will be hearing a plea on the reduction of JEE Advanced attempts from 3 to 2

A month after increasing the number of attempts for JEE Advanced, the JAB restore the earlier eligibility criterion used in previous years (representative image/ Express image)

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Joint Admission Board (JAB) to allow students who dropped out of courses between November 5 and November 18, 2024, to register for the JEE Advanced.

Read | SC allows students who quit courses between November 5 and 18 over rule change to take exam

The top court announced this while hearing a plea challenging recent change in JEE Advanced attempts. A month after increasing the number of attempts for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced from two to three this year, the Joint Admission Board (JAB) has decided to restore the earlier eligibility criterion used in previous years.

Read | How increase in JEE Advanced attempts will impact droppers, cut-offs, overall competition

As many as 22 students filed a plea last month challenging the reduction in the number of attempts. The petitioners had claimed that they had cleared their Class 12 exams in 2023 and were already enrolled in engineering colleges, but they started preparing for JEE Advanced 2025 as and when the number of available attempts increased from two to three. This preparation included submitting the JEE Main 2025 application form fee, coaching classes fee, and spending money on test series, study materials/ books and other preparatory courses.

The writ petition filed in this regard said: “The petitioners are aggrieved by the abrupt and arbitrary policy reversal regarding the eligibility criteria for JEE-Advanced 2025 by the JAB, which initially increased the permissible attempts for JEE Advanced from two to three on 05.11.2024, only to rescind this decision on 18.11.2024, causing severe hardship and prejudice to the Petitioners and similarly situated students nationwide.”

Interestingly, a fresh plea, filed through advocate Sanjeet Kumar Trivedi, said it the JAB, entrusted to conduct the JEE-Advanced exam, changed the eligibility criteria for students in an “arbitrary” manner.

The fresh plea said the change in eligibility criteria was against the principles of natural justice and added: “The abrupt changes in the eligibility criteria has affected the petitioner as well as thousands of similarly situated persons denying them a valuable opportunity to enter the IITs.”

“The impugned notification is also in violation of principles of legitimate expectation and promissory estoppel,” it said.