Delhi High Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Compensatory Extra Chance To Appear, Register In JEE Mains Examination 2021

Observing that the position has been answered by the Supreme Court in the UPSC Extra Chance case, the Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea seeking a compensatory extra chance for appearing and registering in the JEE Mains Examination being conducted in 2021 in the months of February, March, April and May.

A single judge bench comprising of Justice Prateek Jalan observed thus:

"The grant of a relaxation in the past was held by the Court (Supreme Court) not to constitute an arbitrariness or unreasonableness necessitating the grant of an exemption in the present year also. For similar reasons, the policy decision taken by the testing body in the case of the JEE (Advanced) Examination cannot render the present decision arbitrary or unreasonable. The Supreme Court has also cautioned against a decision which would have a cascading effect on all other examinations which took place in 2020. 20. For the aforesaid reasons, I am of the view that the present petition is covered against the petitioners by the decision in Rachna."

The Court was dealing with a petition filed by candidates seeking admission in engineering colleges through JEE Mains exam conducted by National Testing Agency (NTA). Citing various covid 19 pandemic reasons, the petitioners claimed that they were either unable to take the examination in September last year or were not able to deliver satisfactory performances.

In view of this, the petitioners were unable to appear in the 2021 edition of the exam due to the eligibility condition. Therefore an additional opportunity for appearing in the examination in 2021 was sought by them.

The primary grievance arose from a set of eligibility conditions proposed for 2021 examination by the NTA stating that the candidates who have passed the class 12 / equivalent examination in 2019, 2020, or appearing in 2021 irrespective of their age can appear in JEE (Main) 2021 examination. It was also stated Candidates who passed Class 12/equivalent examination in 2018 or before as well as those who will appear in such examination in 2022 or later are not eligible to appear in JEE (Main) 2021.

The petitioners in the case had passed their Class XII examination prior to 2018 and were thus ineligible for JEE Mains Exam 2021.

Relying heavily on the judgment given by the Supreme Court in Rachna v. Union of India, it was contended by NTA that the petitioners' case was untenable as per the aforesaid decision. It was also submitted that the petitioners did not approach the help desk of the JEE Mains examination in time and were therefore unable to participate in the examination on 24.09.2020.

Agreeing to the submission made, the High Court observed thus:

"Similar consideration would prevail in the present case also. In the case of the JEE Mains also, there has been no change in the syllabus during the relevant period, although Ms. Dixit states that the structure of the examination relating to the number of questions, etc. has undergone some changes. As in the case of the CS exam, the JEE Mains were also postponed due to the pandemic and remedial measures as submitted in the counter affidavit of NTA were adopted for Covid-affected candidates."

Negating the argument made on behalf of the petitioners, the Court observed thus:

"Ms. Dixit's second point of distinction is that, in the CS exam, a candidate is entitled to skip attempts, subject to the maximum age bar and the maximum number of attempts that he or she might take, whereas in the JEE, the candidate having regard to the year in which he/she completes the Class XII examination, would not be able to skip the 2020 session and take a subsequent examination. I am afraid this submission is also untenable. The imposition of an age limit, coupled with a maximum number of attempts, as in the case of the CS exam, is no different in principle from laying down a criterion based upon the year in which the candidate took the school-leaving examination. In the case of the CS exam, the candidate may choose when to take his/ her attempts, subject to the age limit. In the JEE, the only limitation is with regard to the time that has passed after the school-leaving examination. The candidate can choose to take every attempt available to him/ her or to skip any attempts as they consider most beneficial to them."

In view of this, the Court dismissed the petition.

Title: ISHA JAISWAL & ORS v. NATIONAL TESTING AGENCY

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