JEE Mains: Bombay High Court to hear PIL challenging eligibility criteria on April 24

The Bombay High Court will hear on April 24 the public interest litigation (PIL) challenging eligibility criteria of minimum 75% marks in Class XII.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne adjourned the PIL on Thursday after Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh sought time to file reply.

HC asks NTA about the purpose of eligibility criteria of 75 percent marks in boards

The HC, last week, had asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) the purpose of eligibility criteria of 75 percent marks in boards despite there being a qualifying exam for admission to IITs, NITs, IIITs etc. “What is the purpose for giving 75 percent for twelfth standard? There is a qualifying examination,” Justice Gangapurwala had asked.

Rui Rodrigues, advocate for the NTA, informed the court that the candidates have to either score 75 percent in board exams or be in the top 20 percentile of their respective boards.

The advocate for the petitioner countered that the board has not published data about the top 20 percentile after 2019.

Earlier, the HC had rejected the prayer for postponement of JEE Mains 2023 examination. Session 1 was conducted as scheduled from January 24 - January 31 and Session 2 is ongoing as per schedule.

According to the PIL by Anubha Sahai, many candidates are from batches that were assessed on the basis of performance in the previous years as the board exams were cancelled due to COVID pandemic.

It states that there are students with less than 75% marks but could perform well in JEE Mains and if a fair chance is denied to them, it will affect the future of lakhs for bright students.