Delhi High Court
Vedanshi Pathak Through Guardian ... vs National Testing Agency & Ors. on 26 August, 2022
Author: Sanjeev Narula
Bench: Sanjeev Narula
$~36
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of Decision: 26th August, 2022
+ W.P.(C) 11925/2022
VEDANSHI PATHAK THROUGH GUARDIAN PIYUSH KUMAR
PATHAK ..... Petitioner
Through: Ms. Mamta Sharma, Advocate.
versus
NATIONAL TESTING AGENCY & ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Rupesh Kumar and Ms. Pankhuri
Shrivastava, Advocates for R-1.
Mr. Arjun Mitra, JEE (Advanced).
Mr. Virendra Pratap Singh Charak,
Mr. Shubhra Parashar, Mr.
Pushpender Singh Charak, Mr. Ram
Pan Singh Tomar and Mr. Shishir
Khosey, Advocates for R-2.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA
JUDGMENT
SANJEEV NARULA, J. (Oral):
CM APPL. 35615/2022 (u/S 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 on behalf of Petitioner for directions)
1. Petitioner, an aspirant of B. Tech course, has appeared in both Session 1 and Session 2 of the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) 2022 ["JEE (Main)"] under the 'General/(UR)' Category and her better score is 88.2866394 which is below the cut-off NTA score of 88.4121383. She has approached this Court seeking directions to appear for the Joint Entrance Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 1 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07 Examination (Advanced) 2022 ["JEE (Advanced)"], alleging that the Common Rank List ["CRL"] prepared by Respondent No. 1 - National Testing Agency ["NTA"] is erroneous as it has duplicity of candidates and if the same is corrected, she would become eligible as her score is in the vicinity of the qualifying percentile noted above.
2. The scheme of the JEE examinations, is as follows:
i. A candidate is required to register by filling-up an online application form, through which a "system generated application number" is allocated. Candidates are allowed two opportunities to write the JEE (Main), which are described as Session 1 and Session 2, for which, candidates are to use the same application number. It is, however, not mandatory to appear in both sessions.
ii. Scores are obtained on a percentile basis, and are not an aggregate or average of the marks obtained. If a candidate appears in both sessions, the higher score of the two is considered as final for each subject, total of which forms the "Total NTA Score" of a candidate.
iii. NTA announces the "All India Rank based on Final NTA Score"
which is a rank list, and further declares "Cut-off Total NTA Score based on Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech.)" for general as well as reserved categories. These are used by candidates for - (i) seat allocation to many premier engineering colleges such as NITs, NSIT, DTU ["NIT+ institutions"] through a Joint Seat Allocation Authority ["JoSAA"] which considers the All India Rank; and/or (ii) qualifying to write the JEE (Advanced) for attaining admission into IITs through the cut-off Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 2 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07 NTA Score for the said exam.1 iv. On 7th/8th August, 2022, NTA declared the Cut-off Total NTA Score based on Paper 1 (B.E./B.Tech.). The cut-off for the general/unreserved category is 88.4121383.
v. In terms of Clause 11 of the Information Bulletin for JEE (Main)-
2022 issued by NTA, 2,50,000 candidates are to be shortlisted for JEE (Advanced).
3. Petitioner had pointed out duplication of candidates by placing reliance on score cards which were filed on record on 17th August, 2022. On the said date, while issuing notice, the Court had allowed Petitioner's application for JEE (Advanced) to be processed and registered. The matter was thereafter posted for 22nd August, 2022 to enable NTA to take instructions and file a response. On 22nd August, 2022, following order was passed and the matter was posted for 23rd August 2022:
1. Mr. Abhishek Khanna, counsel for Respondent No. 1 - NTA, seeks and is granted one day's accommodation to file the counter affidavit.
2. While allowing the same, the Court has specifically queried from Mr. Khanna as to whether the issue of duplication arising from multiple registrations/applications by the same candidate(s) for the two sessions of JEE (Main) Examination 2022, as alleged by Petitioner, has been examined by the NTA. To this question, Mr. Khanna has responded vaguely without giving any clarity. He however points out that as of now, about 2,62,000 candidates have been considered in the Common Rank List ("CRL") as against the requirement of 2,50,000 candidates as per the information bulletin. This, he submits, results from a stipulation contained in clause 11 of information bulletin stating that "The total number of candidates may be slightly greater than 2,50,000 in the presence of "tied" ranks / scores in any category".1
According to a rulebook of the Respondent, titled Business Rules of JoSAA, - "Indian Institutes of Technology [IITs] offer several academic programs for which admission is on the basis of JEE (Advanced) 2022. National Institutes of Technology [NITs], Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur [IIEST], Indian Institutes of Information Technology [IIITs or Triple-I-Ts] and a few other technical Institutes funded fully or partially by Central or a State government [Other-GFTIs] (referred to as NIT+) offer academic programs for which admission is on the basis of JEE (Main) 2022."
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 3 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:073. The above-stated submission, however, does not address the concern of the Court qua the issue of duplication pointed out by Petitioner and also noticed while dealing with matters relating to JEE (Main) Examination.
4. At the request of Mr. Khanna, re-notify on 23rd August, 2022."
4. On 23rd August, 2022, NTA's counter-affidavit was placed on record, on perusal whereof, the Court passed the following order:
"1. Mr. Rupesh Kumar, counsel for Respondent No. 1- National Testing Agency ["NTA"], has handed a copy of the counter affidavit across the board, which is taken on record. Along with the counter affidavit, a copy of communication dated 22nd August, 2022 received from the National Informatics Centre ["NIC"] in response to NTA's query qua the issue of duplication has been enclosed. A perusal of the said communication indicates that NIC is presently inquiring into the issue of duplication, based on certain parameters mentioned therein, and would be able to revert by 24th August, 2022.
2. In view of the above, the matter is stood over to 26th August, 2022.
xx ... xx ... xx"
5. Today, during the course of hearing, another short affidavit has been filed by NTA, which is handed over across the board and is taken on record.
6. For filling-up the online application form, Chapter 7 and Appendix VII of the Information Bulletin provide step-wise instructions and illustrations, complete with screenshots, which includes the following:
"Instructions for filling Online Application Form: • Download Information Bulletin and Replica of Application Form. Read these carefully to ensure your eligibility.
• Follow the steps given below to Apply Online:
➢ Step 1: Registration Form:
Register for the Online Application Form and note down the system- generated Application Number. The candidate should supply the required details while filling the Online Application Form and is also required to create PASSWORD and choose Security Question and enter his/her Answer. After successful submission of the personal details, an Application number will be generated and it will be used to complete the remaining Steps of the Application Form and will also be required for all future reference/correspondence. This application number will also be used/ referred (pr both Sessions of JEE (Main) - 2022. For subsequent logins, the candidate will be able to login directly with the respective system-generated Application Number and created Password.
➢ Step 2: Application Form Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 4 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07 The Candidates can log in with the system-generated Application Number and pre-created Password for completing the Application Form including filling up of personal details, applying for the Paper, choosing the Examination Cities, providing the details of Educational Qualifications, and uploading the images and documents (if any). ➢ Step 3: Fee Payment After completing Step 1 and Step 2, the candidates have to pay the requisite examination fee. The fee can be submitted only online through Net Banking, Credit Card, Debit Card, UPI, or Paytm Services. Processing charges and GST as applicable are chargeable to the candidate (in addition to the examination fee) by the concerned Bank/Payment Gateway Integrator.
The Confirmation Page of the online Application Form will be generated only after successful payment by the Candidate. In case the Confirmation Page is not generated after payment of fee, then the candidate may have to approach the concerned Bank/Payment Gateway (in the helpline number and e-mail given in the Information Bulletin) for ensuring the successful payment or for obtaining the refund of duplicate / multiple payments].
• Download, save and print a copy of the Confirmation Page of the Application Form (which would be downloadable only after successful remittance of fee) for future reference. • All 3 Steps can be done together or at separate timings. The submission of the Application of a candidate could be considered as successful. And his/her candidature would be confirmed only on the successful transaction/receipt of the prescribed application fee from him/her.
Candidates shall ensure that the information entered by them in their respective online Application Form is correct."
It further provides that:
"Candidates are required to fill in the Application Form very carefully. No corrections will be permitted once the Application Form is submitted.
Note: Multiple Application Forms submitted by a Candidate for the same Session(s) will not be accepted at any cost.
NTA does not edit/modify/alter any information entered by the candidates after completion of the application process under any circumstances. Any request for change in information thereafter will not be entertained. Therefore, candidates are advised to exercise utmost caution before filling up the correct details in the Application Form.
NTA disclaims any liability that may arise to a candidate(s) due to incorrect information provided by him/her in his/her online Application Form."Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 5 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07
7. Also, by way of a Public Notice issued on 01st June, 2022 inviting online applications for JEE (Mains) Session 2, NTA issued the following directions:
"The candidates who have applied and successfully paid the Examination Fee for JEE (Main) - 2022 Session 1 and want to appear for JEE (Main) - 2022 Session 2, are required to log in with their previous Application Number and Password as provided in Session 1. They may only choose the Paper, Medium of the Examination, and cities for Session 2 and pay the Examination Fees. Those candidates who have not applied earlier need to apply afresh as per the schedule given. For details, candidates may refer to Annexure-1."
8. Though the aforenoted provisions prohibit duplication of application numbers, however, the online system was not able to prevent multiple registrations per candidate. Resultantly, despite the above instructions, certain candidates apparently got registered for Session 2 under a fresh application number, thereby creating two application/registration numbers. Further, some of such candidates managed to clear the cut-off in both the sessions, which has led to them being reflected twice in the rank list, under different application numbers.
9. As noted above, Petitioner had also highlighted one such instance, which was taken note of on an earlier date, and NTA was directed to delve into this issue and re-confirm to the Court, its stance on the issue of duplication.
10. On the basis of the record provided by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which has developed, hosted, maintained and secured the online application portal, Mr. Binod Kumar Sahu, Director, NTA, has deposed through an additional affidavit. It has been explained therein that the exercise of ascertaining duplicities in the application numbers of the candidates would involve examining voluminous data pertaining to 2,62,176 candidates. It is thus not feasible to apply the necessary checks manually.
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 6 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07Nonetheless, on the request of NTA, the following response dated 25th August, 2022 has been received from NIC:
"In pursuance of the receipt of your Letter No. NTA/Legal/DHC/W.P.(C)/11925/2022 dates 22.08.2022 in the above mentioned matter, it is informed that the following parameters are normally checked to eliminate duplicity in applications:
• Candidate Name • Father Name • Mother Name • Candidate's Date of Birth • Candidate's Gender • State of Eligibility • State of Residence In addition to the above parameters, when we applied the additional parameters like Address, Contact Details, Nationality, Category, PwD Details, Question Paper Medium, Annual Family Income, Father & Mother Qualification & Occupation, Candidate Qualification, Medium of Schooling in Qualifying Examination, it was found that there are only 10 candidates who are common in both sessions of JEE (Main) 2022 but has different application numbers and don't have duplicate records within the same session."
[Emphasis Supplied]
11. On the basis of abovesaid information, the Director, NTA has confirmed on affidavit, as follows:
"12. That it may be mentioned that the cut-off for appearing in JEE (Advanced) 2022 in General Category has been declared as 88.4121383 for the top 2,50,000 successful candidates. As per the requirement of the Organising Committee to conduct Counselling for JEE (Advanced) 2022, Result data of top 2,62,176 candidates had been provided to them for the said purpose. This data, which was over and above the stipulated number of 2,50,000 candidates, was obtained by JEE (Advanced) 2022 to accommodate the candidates who were falling in the category of their One Time Measure Scheme.
13. That in view of the above, it is abundantly clear that the prayer of the petitioner to revise the cut off percentile 88.4121383 for JEE (Advanced) 2022 and to allow the Petitioner to register and appear in JEE (Advanced) 2022 are not maintainable, as the Petitioner would not be eligible for JEE (Advanced) 2022, even if the ten (10) candidates having two applications for two different sessions of JEE (Main) 2022 are removed from the selected list."
[Emphasis Supplied]
12. Ms. Mamta Sharma, counsel for the Petitioner, has controverted the Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 7 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07 accuracy of the above figures and has argued that the number stated in the affidavit is heavily downplayed. She has produced 13 such score cards where purportedly duplication has occurred, arguing that such instances run into thousands, and given further time, she can produce many more such examples. On the other hand, the Director of NTA has confirmed that the duplication is only restricted to 10 candidates, founded on the parameters applied as above.
13. As of now, at the highest, duplication is demonstrated only in 13 cases, on the basis of the documents produced by the Petitioner. Petitioner's averment that duplication runs into thousands is a bald assertion without any supporting material. When Petitioner approached the Court, at the first instance, she ought to have presented all the documents to prove her case. At this stage, when the Respondents have sworn on affidavit to contradict Petitioner's claim, she has produced certain documents, which are not immediately verifiable. Nonetheless, even if all the instances cited by the Petitioner are found to be genuine, it cannot lead to the conclusion that the Petitioner would make it to the list of selected candidates.
14. The list of selected candidates is to have the stipulated number of 2,50,000 candidates, in terms of Clause 11 of the Information Bulletin. However, Mr. Rupesh Kumar, Standing Counsel for NTA, has informed the Court that in order to accommodate candidates who are falling in the category of One-Time Measure Scheme, the same has already been expanded, and presently, 2,62,176 candidates have been shortlisted. At this juncture, reference to the One Time Measure Scheme would also be necessary and the same finds mention in Clause 11, which reads as follows:
"Relaxation in Criteria as a special case for JEE (Advanced) 2022 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 8 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07 o One-time measure for those who first appeared in class 12th (or equivalent) examination in 2020/2021 AND successfully registered for JEE (Advanced) 2021 but did NOT appear Candidates who appeared in class 12th (or equivalent) examination for the first time in 2020 OR 2021 AND successfully registered for JEE (Advanced) 2021 but were absent in BOTH the papers, i.e., Paper 1 and Paper 2, of JEE (Advanced) 2021, are eligible to directly appear for JEE (Advanced) 2022 and do not need to fulfil Criteria 1 to 4. However, they must successfully register for the JEE (Advanced) 2022 in the online registration portal and pay the registration fee. Further, these candidates would be considered in addition to and not as part of the total number of candidates who would qualify from JEE (Main) 2022 for appearing in JEE (Advanced) 2022.
This is a one-time measure valid only for JEE (Advanced) 2022 due to the ongoing pandemic.
These candidates must confirm their eligibility for appearing in JEE (Advanced) 2022 by visiting the official website (https://jeeadv.ac.in) and filling in the requisite information during registration.
This one-time measure is NOT applicable to candidates who appeared for their class 12th exam for the first time before 2020.
o One-time measure for those who first appeared in class 12th in 2020 As a one-time special measure due to the ongoing pandemic candidates who appeared in class 12th (or equivalent) examination in 2020 for the first time are also eligible to appear for JEE (Advanced) 2022 PROVIDED they satisfy the following two criteria simultaneously: (i) The candidate should have appeared ONLY ONCE for JEE (Advanced), either in the year 2020 or 2021; OR, have NOT appeared in any paper in both JEE (Advanced) 2020 and JEE (Advanced) 2021. (ii) These candidate(s) should appear/should have appeared in JEE (Main) 2022 and meet the cut-off score of the top 2,50,000 successful candidates (including all categories) for qualifying for JEE (Advanced) 2022 in their respective category.
This one-time measure is applicable to ONLY those candidates for whom the appearance in JEE (Advanced) 2022 will be their first or second attempt and is NOT applicable to candidates who appeared for their class 12th exam for the first time before 2020. No candidate will be allowed to appear in JEE (Advanced) more than two times. Further, these candidates would be considered in addition to and not as part of the total number of candidates who would qualify from JEE (Main) 2022 for appearing in JEE (Advanced) 2022. Criteria 5 would be applicable to these candidate(s).
This is a one-time measure valid only for JEE (Advanced) 2022.
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 9 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07These candidates must confirm their eligibility for appearing in JEE (Advanced) 2022 by visiting the official website (https://jeeadv.ac.in) and filling in the requisite information."
15. Apart from the above, it has also been explained that the expanded list also accommodates tied-up candidates i.e., candidates who have the same NTA score. Mr. Kumar has further pointed out that as per the data of NTA, 1471 candidates fall between the General category cut-off percentile and the percentile secured by Petitioner. For this reason, and also because the list of selected candidates has already been increased much beyond the stipulated number, even the removal of all cited duplicates would not bring down the cut-off percentile to a level where the Petitioner would become eligible. This is confirmed by the Director, NTA in the additional affidavit. Additionally, it has been highlighted that apart from Petitioner, 56 more candidates have obtained the same NTA score as the Petitioner, who would also, therefore, have to be accommodated.
16. Significantly, the duplication detection and removal exercise would mean that the entire list of selected candidates would have to be disturbed. The fallout of allowing the prayer would necessarily mean that the Court would have to tinker with the cut-off score, that too on a mere assumption that there would be more duplications than what is confirmed by NTA. Weeding out duplications would create gaps in the rank list and the entire list would thus have to be redrawn, which, in the opinion of the Court, would have a ripple effect of upsetting the whole exam conducting mechanism and selection process, and thus cannot be allowed. Further, the Court would then have no reason to restrict the benefit to only the Petitioner, as all 56 other candidates who would qualify by the redetermination of the cut-off would have to be necessarily be accommodated, and this would Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 10 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07 amount to opening of proverbial pandora's box. To invite this drastic step, the errors should be shown to be egregious enough for the court to reasonably conclude that the entire list is manifestly and intrinsically flawed. The hypothetical errors envisaged by the Petitioner, as well as a few isolated incidents admitted by NTA, which do not fundamentally alter the results, cannot be the basis for the court to embark upon such a mammoth exercise of re-determining the cut-off score and recasting the list of selected candidates. Moreover, as discussed above, since the shortlisted candidates are far more than the stipulated number, even if there are some duplications, which cannot be conclusively determined at this stage, it cannot be said that seats would remain vacant on account of such purported duplicity.
17. For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds no reason to allow Petitioner any interim relief, as prayed for.
18. Accordingly, the application is dismissed.
W.P.(C) 11925/2022
19. Although the petition could have been disposed of in light of the additional affidavit filed by NTA and the conclusion drawn above, however, since Petitioner firmly contests NTA's claim, the Court is willing to examine this question further. Accordingly, the Petitioner is permitted to file a rejoinder to the additional affidavit of NTA, within a period of three weeks from today, and produce necessary documents (if any).
20. Additionally, to confirm whether the duplications are only ten in number, NTA is directed to give complete particulars/data on the basis whereof such averments have been made by the Director of NTA. Additionally, the documents presented by Petitioner today, before the Court, Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 11 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07 would also be examined by NTA and a response thereto be filed within a period of three weeks from today.
21. Re-notify on 14th December, 2022.
SANJEEV NARULA, J AUGUST 26, 2022 d.negi Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed W.P.(C) 11925/2022 Page 12 of 12 By:NITIN KAIN Signing Date:27.08.2022 00:53:07