On Tuesday morning, Nagpur Bench at Bombay High Court refused to stay JEE Main exams of 2020 any further. However, it directed to seek re-examination from the National Testing Agency (NTA) in case students of flood-affected Vidharba region, of Maharashtra, are unable to reach exam centres.

Moreover, the Relief and Rehabilitation Minister of Maharastra asked candidates belonging to flood-affected area to reach out to NTA for rescheduling dates. 

The division bench comprising of Justices Pushpa Ganediwala and Ravi Deshpande also mentioned that National Testing Agency (NTA) may accept such applications. However, the decision will be made after evaluating the veracity of the situation.

The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2020 has begun at 9 AM on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, across the country.

The court said, “The situation is grim in several districts due to flood. Students should not suffer for no fault on their part.” Hence, aggrieved students can lodge an application through the central coordinator to the NTA. 

Further, the court ordered, “The National Testing Agency shall then decide on the application after consulting with the district collector concerned within a period of 15 days.”

Latest Updates from NTA

NTA has claimed to undertake representation from students unable to reach exam centres due to transport and communication issues on any day between 1-6 September 2020. This happened prior to Bombay High Court’s statement on allowing students to seek NTA for re-examination.

Hence, NTA has approved the decision to accept representation from District Collector and local bodies for the matter and the decision will be made in 15 days. 

Check: JEE Main Cutoff 2020

Citizen Files Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for JEE Main 2020 Candidates from Flood-Hit Areas

Earlier, Nitesh Bawankar, a resident of Bhandara district wrote a letter to Bombay high Court which the court acknowledged on Monday, 30 August 2020. Following this, Bombay High Court had taken suo moto notice of the urgent plea filed by the citizen and scheduled its hearing on Tuesday. 

The letter raised concerns regarding students from flood-affected areas in Maharashtra who will be unable to reach exams centres to take JEE Main exam on September 1, 2020. 

The letter also sought for postponing JEE Main in areas of Nagpur, Amravati, Akola, Chandrapur, Gondia and Gadchiroli districts.

Check: JEE Main Rank Predictor 2020

On Monday, the court had directed the Maharashtra Government, National Testing Agency, Union government and collectors of such districts to consider postponement of JEE Main. This was in favour of students hailing from flood-hit areas who could not make it to the exam centres.

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