HC refuses to stay JEE, says students in flood-hit areas can get re-test

The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court on Tuesday (September 1) scrapped a petition to stay JEE (Mains) while ruling that students from the flood-hit parts of Maharashtra’s Vidharbha region who couldn’t reach the exam centre, can request the National Testing Agency (NTA) for a re-examination.

The division bench of justices Ravi Deshpande and Pushpa Ganediwala said the NTA should consider any such application and take a call after checking its veracity and consulting with the concerned district collector within 15 days.

The court had called for an urgent hearing of the case at 8.30 am, just half an hour ahead of the conduct of the JEE (Mains) at 9.00 on Tuesday across the country. The exam that began on September 1 will continue till September 6.

“The situation is grim in several districts due to floods. Students should not suffer for no fault on their part,” the court said, adding that the applications to the NTA should be filed via the centre coordinator.

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Assistant Solicitor General Ulhas Aurangabadkar, representing NTA told the court that the agency shall consider any application submitted by students who have not been able to take the exams due to the flood situation or transport problems.

The court had called a hearing after accepting a petition by Nitesh Bawankar, a resident of Bhandara district, who had requested a postponement of the exams for students of flood-hit parts of Maharashtra like Nagpur, Amravati, Akola, Chandrapur, Bhandara, Gondia and Gadchiroli districts.