A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih passed the order while hearing the pleas against bringing down from three to two, the attempts given to JEE-Advanced aspirants.

The apex court observed the joint admission board, which is entrusted to conduct the JEE-Advanced exam, had issued a press release on November 5 last year which said students who appeared for the class 12 examination in academic years 2023, 2024 and 2025 would be eligible to appear for the JEE-Advanced.

Court Intervenes to Ensure Fairness for JEE-Advanced Aspirants Impacted by Abrupt Eligibility Rule Change

The bench further said another press release came on November 18, 2024 with the restriction applicable only to the two academic years — 2024 and 2025.
If the students, acting on the said representation (of November 5), have dropped from their course with an understanding that they would be entitled to appear for JEE examination, the withdrawal of the promise on November 18, 2024 cannot be permitted to act to their detriment,” the bench held.

The top court was hearing two petitions, one of which has been filed by 22 aspirants challenging the reduction in the number of attempts available to aspirants for JEE-Advanced 2025 from three to two.

During the hearing, the counsel appearing for the petitioners said on account of the promise made in the November 5 2024 press release, they dropped out of colleges to pursue the test conducted for admission to the IITs. This is very important because one of the primary considerations in giving three attempts instead of two was to ensure that there was less stress on students, the counsel said.

He said that the immediate withdrawal was absolutely arbitrary as within 13 days, the number of attempts were reduced to two.

The counsel sought to know what would happen to students like the petitioners, who took an irreversible decision of dropping out from their courses.

“What is the date of dropping out of college?” the bench asked the petitioners.

When solicitor general Tushar Mehta said dropping out may not have any relevance, the court asked, “Why? On the basis of promise made by you on November 5, 2024,.dropped out on the assurance given that they will be entitled to participate in the process.”

The bench noted Mehta’s submission that the decision notified in the November 18, 2024 press release was in the larger interest of the students.

“It is submitted due to the enlarged period of consideration, the students would not concentrate on their studies and would only spend their time on preparing for the JEE (Advanced),” the bench said.

The court said it was not considering the wisdom of the JAB in restricting the zone of consideration either for two years or for three years.

Another pleaded through advocate Sanjeet Kumar Trivedi that the plea related to admission process for entry into IITs and a change in “arbitrary manner” eligibility parameters for students had been done.
The JAB, vide its press release dated November 5, 2024, first fixed the permissible number of attempts for JEE-Advanced at three, only to change it abruptly vide another press release dated November 18, 2024, and thereby reducing the number of attempts to two, the plea, filed by an aspirant, said.

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It said the change in eligibility criteria was against the principles of natural justice and added, “The impugned notification is also in violation of principles of legitimate expectation and promissory estoppel.” Seeking setting aside of the November 18, 2024 press release, it said the change disentitled and disqualified many students from taking the JEE-Advanced 2025.

The exam will be conducted on 18 May 2025.  This is for those keen on admission into IITs situated in various states of India.

The entrance exam for IIT admission will be conducted by IIT Kanpur for 2025.

Age Limit

Students trying to take up JEE Advanced 2025 application submission must have been born on or after October 1, 2000. Five years age relaxation is given to SC, ST, and PwD candidates, i.e. these candidates should have been born on or after October 1, 1995.

Admission process

Candidates have to take up JEE Advanced 2025 application submission online. Those who have submitted applications will appear for JEE Advanced 2025 conducted by IIT Kanpur.

Individuals have to pass the entrance test with required qualifying marks to be eligible for further procedure which includes counselling.

Counselling is the process where the students can choose the course of their choice and the institution where they desire to study it.

Selection will be done based on performance in the qualifying exam, written test, choice of the course by candidate and availability of seats there.

Who can take up JEE Advanced 2025 application submission?

The eligibility required to take up JEE Advanced 2024 registration is a pass in plus two from a recognized educational institution located anywhere in India.

They must have passed plus two from science stream with subjects as maths/biology physics and chemistry.

Those keen on pure engineering can pass plus two with maths, physics and chemistry as core subjects.

And, candidates focusing on biology or biotechnology oriented engineering courses should have passed plus two with biology, physics and chemistry as subjects.

Applicants must also have passed JEE Mains with a rank among the top 2.5 lakhs on a national level. Candidates who fulfill all these conditions can take up JEE Advanced 2025 registration.

The URL mentioned above has to be typed into the browser of the computer and the website has to be allowed to download.

Process differs here as applicants are divided into two categories – Indian citizens and foreign nationals and the process to register is different for both these categories.

Foreign applicants

Once the web page is available in the browser, candidates must click the registration link.

Post clicking the link, candidates can provide details like their name, date of birth, and email id and create an account comprising a username and password.

Once the account is ready, candidates can log in and start filling out the application form for JEE Advanced 2025.

The form has to be filled and the registration fee has to be paid and submitted.

Post submission, applicants have to wait for the message indicating successful submission, once it is obtained, it can be downloaded and a printout of it has to be taken and preserved for future use.

Indian applicants

Eligibility for Indian applicants is a pass in plus-two and also in JEE Mains. They can visit the official website mentioned above and click the registration link.

Post clicking the registration link, they can enter their JEE Mains roll number, date of birth and other information and log in and begin JEE Advanced 2025 application submission.

JEE Advanced 2025 application submission fee is to be paid and the form has to be submitted.

Website for JEE Advanced 2025 application submission can be accessed here

1. Type the URL mentioned above and submit it to allow the website to download.

2. Once the website is ready, click the link for downloading the hall ticket.

3. Enter application number, date of birth and other details to view the admit card.

4. Download the admit card and take a printout of it.

After JEE Advanced 2025 application submission

Candidates have to attend the exam on the date which would be mentioned at the appropriate time.

Those who have passed the exam with required qualifying marks and are keen on studying BTech in IITs can go for the counselling conducted by JoSAA.

Students who have a desire to study BArch in IITs can appear for AAT (Architecture Aptitude Test) which will open for registration after result declaration for JEE Advanced 2025.

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