SC dismisses plea against eligibility criterion of 75% marks in Class 12 board exams for admission to IITs

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the eligibility criterion of 75 per cent score in higher secondary examination for admission to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

A vacation bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K V Vishwanathan said this prerequisite existed earlier as well and it was not inclined to intervene in the matter. The top court said these are education matters and it has to defer the issue to experts. "This condition was always there, why should we interfere? This is not a matter we want to get into," the bench said.

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The top court was hearing a plea filed by Chandan Kumar and others against the eligibility criterion of 75 per cent marks in Class 12 board exams for admission to IITs. The counsel appearing for the petitioners contended the students were given a waiver during the Covid-19 pandemic and the same students now have greater chances to clear the examination for admission to the prestigious engineering institutes.

"They have scored more than 98 per cent in Joint Entrance Examination, JEE (Main). These are meritorious students. Kindly allow them," the counsel said. The lawyer submitted that the applicant has scored 92 percentile in JEE Mains and is eligible to appear in JEE Advance. However, she will not get admission even if she qualifies as her board exam score is less than 75 per cent.

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According to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced brochure released this year, candidates need to have secured at least 75 per cent in Class 12 board exams.