In Brief
A student who secured admission to IIT Kharagpur but did not opt out before the withdrawal deadline sought to challenge the JEE (Advanced) eligibility rule that bars previously-admitted IIT candidates from re-appearing in subsequent years. The High Court held the rule arbitrary and discriminatory. The Supreme Court reversed this, holding that Criterion 5 is valid and not arbitrary. Courts must defer to academic institutions in admissions matters unless criteria are plainly unreasonable. The criterion was devised after extensive consultations by all 23 IITs and uniformly applied. The classification between IIT and non-IIT institutions is justified given IITs' special statutory status as national importance institutions under the 1961 Act. The rule conserves valuable public resources by discouraging seat wastage.
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