Shyam Sunder vs The Union Of India & Anr on 31 August, 2022

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Delhi High Court - Orders

Shyam Sunder vs The Union Of India & Anr on 31 August, 2022

1. Petitioner's son - an aspirant of B.Tech. course - appeared in Session 1 and 2 of Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2022 ["JEE (Main) 2022"] under 'General' category. Now, after declaration of results of JEE (Main) 2022 and conduct of Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) 2022 ["JEE (Advanced) 2022"] on 28th August 2022, Petitioner seeks a mandamus for directing Respondent No. 2 [National Testing Agency - hereinafter "NTA"] to change his son's category in his application form from 'General' to 'Other Backward Classes' ["OBC"] on the basis of a certificate dated 20th July 2020, issued by the Government of Haryana.

Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 12565/2022 Page 1 of 6 By:SAPNA SETHI Signing Date:02.09.2022 19:47:38

2. The facts as narrated in the petition disclose that Petitioner's son - Mr. Gaurav - belongs to OBC (Nai community). He appeared in JEE (Main) 2022 - Session 1 in General Category and obtained NTA score of 90.1182158. Subsequently he realized his inadvertent mistake and his father made a representation to NTA on 10th August, 2022 requesting for the correction. Aggrieved by lack of response, instant petition has been filed. To demonstrate that Petitioner belongs to OBC Category, he has produced a government-issued certificate. He contends that denial of an opportunity to correct the category is violative of his fundamental right, and therefore, a mandamus should be issued.

3. At the outset, it is noted that once an application is submitted, there is no provision to rectify the application. Relevant provision in the 'Information Bulletin for JEE (Main) - 2022' issued by NTA and 'Public Notice' 01st March, 2022,1 dealing with the provision for correction of the application, are required to be noted,2 which reads as follows:

"Candidates are requested to fill in the Application Form very carefully. No corrections will be permitted once the Application Form is submitted."

4. Nevertheless, as a one-time measure, on 06th April, 2022, upon numerous representations by candidates, NTA allowed corrections in the particulars of the online applications of JEE (Main) 2022 - Session 1. The said notice reads as follows: -

"PUBLIC NOTICE 1 'Sub: Inviting Online Applications for Joint Entrance Examination (Main) - 2022 Session 1 - Reg.' 2 Relevant provision: (a) In 'Information Bulletin for JEE (Main) - 2022' under INFORMATION AT A GLANCE - note to Clause 2, and (b) In 'Public Notice' under 'IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS' - Clause (v).

Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 12565/2022 Page 2 of 6 By:SAPNA SETHI Signing Date:02.09.2022 19:47:38

06 April 2022 Sub: Correction in particulars of the Online Application Form of Joint Entrance Examination (Main) - 2022 Session 1- Reg.

In view of the numerous representations received from the candidates regarding giving them an opportunity to edit/modify their particulars in the Online Application Form of JEE (Main) - 2022 Session 1, National Testing Agency has decided to provide the first and final opportunity to the candidates for modifying their particulars in the Online Application Form of JEE (Main) - 2022 Session 1. The details of the same are as given below:

                                                Exam/ Session           Duration for          Field for
                                                                        Correction in        Corrections
                                                                         Particulars
                                               JEE (Main) - 2022       06th April to 08    As per Annexure
                                                   Session 1          April 2022 (up to            I
                                                                        09:00 P.M.)

All the registered candidates for the said Examination are advised to visit the website and verify their particulars. They are further advised to make correction/s in their particulars, in their respective Application Form, in required.

The candidates are allowed to make the corrections, latest by 08 April 2022 (up to 09:00 P.M.). Thereafter, no correction in particulars, whatsoever, will be entertained by NTA under any circumstances. The additional fee (wherever applicable) shall be paid by the candidate concerned either through Credit/Debit Card/Net Banking/ UPI and PAYTM. Since, it is a one-time facility extended to the candidates to avoid any hardships to the candidates are informed to do the correction very carefully, as no further chance for correction will be given to the candidates. For further clarification related to JEE (Main)- 2022, the candidates can also contact 011-40759000 or email at [email protected].

sd/-

(Dr. Sadhana Parashar) Senior Director (Exams)"

5. Petitioner thus had an opportunity to request for corrections by 08th April, 2022, which concededly he has not availed of. He ought to have been vigilant if there was indeed an error in his application. In fact, he Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 12565/2022 Page 3 of 6 By:SAPNA SETHI Signing Date:02.09.2022 19:47:38 appeared in JEE (Main) 2022 - Session 2 under General Category. It is much later, once the results were declared, that he has set about to correct the alleged error in the application form.

6. In the opinion of the court, the relief sought by the Petitioner cannot be granted. The instant petition is entirely silent and provides no explanation regarding the error occurred. No convincing reason has been given for not making any effort to avail benefit of the Public Notice dated 06th April, 2022. When confronted, Mr. Rathee orally submits that Mr. Gaurav made several attempts during the correction window but was unsuccessful. On being further queried as to whether the Petitioner has made any such averment to this effect in the petition - Mr. Rathee responds by saying that Mr. Gaurav and his father do not have any proof of the attempt.

7. It begs no reiteration that relief of change of category is not a matter of right. The courts have granted relief only in extraordinary circumstances in cases where it is found that Petitioner has made a bona fide mistake. Petitioner/or his son cannot colour an act of negligence as 'bona fide mistake'. Candidates who apply for such highly competitive examinations should be vigilant and exercise due care while applying online. Mr. Gaurav had, by his own act, categorized himself as a General Category candidate. Moreover, there is no proof of dispatch of representation dated 10th August 2022 annexed with the Petition. The narrative is unsupported by document(s). Petitioner/or his son are not entitled to claim modification of Mr. Gaurav's online application of JEE (Main) 2022 as a matter of right. Further, there has been considerable delay on the part of Petitioner in Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 12565/2022 Page 4 of 6 By:SAPNA SETHI Signing Date:02.09.2022 19:47:38 approaching the court, at a stage, when results have been announced and JEE (Advanced) 2022 i.e., entrance examination for getting entry into IITs, has also been held on 28th August, 2022. Such delay on Petitioner's part is entirely unexplained. The court remains unconvinced of Petitioner's bona fides.

8. It must also be noted that under JEE (Main) 2022 Examination Scheme, NTA score is on a percentile basis which is evident from the following stipulations in the scorecard: -

"1. NTA Scores are normalized scores across multi session papers and are based on the relative performance of all those who appeared for the examination in one session. The marks obtained are transformed into a scale ranging from 100 to 0 for each session of examinees.

2. The NTA Score indicates the percentage of candidates who have scored EQUAL TO OR BELOW (same or lower raw scores) that particular candidate in that session.

3. The Percentile scores of a Candidate have been calculated as follows:

100 X Number of candidates appeared in the 'Session' with raw score EQUAL TO OR LESS than the candidate Total number of the candidates appeared in the 'Session'

4. The NTA Score of the Total is NOT an aggregate or average of the NTA Score of individual subjects.

5. NTA score is not the same as percentage of marks obtained.

6. Candidate's particulars including Category and Person with Disability (PwD) have been indicated as mentioned by the candidate in the online Application Form."

9. Even if Mr. Gaurav's mistake is taken as an inadvertent act, this court cannot be oblivious of the fact that the JEE Examination is a humongous exercise involving lakhs of students. Now, the ranks have been declared on the basis of percentile score. If courts were to treat change of category as an accidental slip/mistake on part of the candidate and direct change of category, it would necessarily entail re-drawing the ranking which would Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 12565/2022 Page 5 of 6 By:SAPNA SETHI Signing Date:02.09.2022 19:47:38 have a ripple effect of upsetting the entire selection process and seat allocation for OBC candidates for the NIT+ institutions, which cannot be allowed lightly.

10. For the fore-going reasons, the court finds no ground to issue the direction for change of Petitioner's category from 'General' to 'OBC'.

11. Dismissed along with pending application.

SANJEEV NARULA, J AUGUST 31, 2022 as Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 12565/2022 Page 6 of 6 By:SAPNA SETHI Signing Date:02.09.2022 19:47:38

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Delhi High Court - Orders