The Bombay High Court has recently dismissed a PIL seeking to reduce the eligibility criteria of 75% marks in higher secondary exam for IITs admissions.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne observed that it could not intervene at this point and that it was up to the government authorities to consider and decide.
The PIL stated that the 75% eligibility criterion was not applicable until last year.
It was submitted that due to the sudden change in eligibility, lakhs of students may be affected.
Petitioner Anubha Sahai, who appeared in person, argued that the condition had been relaxed since 2021 and that the same relaxation could be granted to current academic year students.
She also claimed that the State’s education boards had not declared the top 20 percentile which was also a criteria for admissions.
On April 6, the Court asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to file its response to the applications and explain why the qualification criterion of 75% in the board exam was prescribed despite the existence of a qualifying examination.
NTA claimed that keeping the 75% cut off percentage was a deliberate and well-considered decision made with the approval of the JEE Apex Board (JAB). The criterion relaxation for previous academic years was a one-time measure.
The NTA also ruled out a third session of the JEE Mains exam in May of this year, calling it unsustainable.
It was stated that adding another exam would have an impact on the entire academic calendar as well as subsequent activities such as admissions and counselling rounds.
During the hearing, National Testing Agency (NTA) Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh informed the bench that the 75% criteria policy had been in effect since 2017.
He informed the court that this system had been relaxed for the academic years 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23, though it was only a one-time and temporary relaxation.
