JEE Mains: Delhi HC dismisses response sheet tampering plea; orders students to do community service

The Delhi High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by two students against the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) conclusions on alleged tampering with the Joint Entrance Examination Main 2025 (JEE Main) answer sheets, the Live Law reported.

The court did not uphold the order of a single judge bench imposing Rs 30,000 fine on each. Instead it directed the students to undertake community service for a period of one month, as per the report.

The divisional bench comprising chief justice DK Upadhyaya and justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed the Class 12 students to serve at an old age home and child care centre respectively for a month, the report said.

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“The Bench dismissed the candidates' plea challenging a single judge order passed on September 22, 2025. They alleged irregularities in the conduct of JEE (Main), 2025. The single judge had observed that they failed to successfully establish their bona fides to prove their case,” the Live Law’s report said.

Dismissing the appeal, the high court said that the single judge’s findings were based on detailed examination of the forensic analysis conducted by the National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (NCFL), the report added.

The order ruled that there was no legal flaw in the order and noted that the claims raised by the JEE Main students were not sufficient to support their claim, as per the report.

The appearing council for the candidates told the court that the students have volunteered not to appear in the JEE examination for the 2025 and 2026 intake, the report stated.

Responding to which, the NTA’s council said: “although the candidates had been barred from appearing in the JEE examinations for the years 2025 and 2026, there was no bar on them appearing in any other examinations.”

In addition, the court, while upholding the previous judgment, said that the debarment shall not be treated as a stigma for their future academic pursuits, the report added.

“Keeping in view the aforesaid facts and considering that the appellants are young students who have recently completed their Class 12 board examinations, and so that their future is not adversely impacted, this Court, while upholding the impugned judgment in its entirety, deems it appropriate to clarify that the debarment shall not be treated as a stigma for their future academic pursuits,” the report said.