INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KHARAGPUR Vs. SOUTRIK SARANGI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted. With consent, counsel for both parties were heard finally, for disposal of the appeal.

(2.) The petitioner, (hereafter variously "IIT" or "the Institute") is aggrieved by a judgment of the single judge, of the Calcutta High Court [WPA No. 11673/ 2020 decided on 25-08-2021], which allowed a writ petition, filed by the respondent herein (hereafter called by his name, "Soutrik") holding that the rejection of his candidature for admission to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced, was not justified, and further directing the IIT to decide the issue afresh, and till its decision was taken, permit him to register for the JEE and appear in the examination if no decision were taken.

(3.) Soutrik appeared in the Joint Entrance Examination (Main), 2020 and on the basis of the percentile obtained by him was qualified and eligible to appear in the JEE (Advanced), 2020. He scored rank 4015 which was not up to his expectation. He participated in the counselling process for admission in the institute and secured admission in the Chemical Engineering Dual Course, at IIT Kharagpur. The common entrance examination system for the 23 IITs is based on the JEE (Main) examination, conducted by the National Testing Agency in four phases, which culminates in a merit list drawn up for students vying for admission in the 23 IITs and 87 National Institute of Technologies (NITs), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) and certain government funded institutes. The four phases of these JEE (Main) examinations are conducted on various dates. Amongst those who compete for the JEE (Main) exam, those falling in the top 2.5 lakhs of those students, based on merit are allowed to register for admission to the JEE (Advanced) examination.