Delhi HC Upholds NTA in JEE 2025 Response-Sheet Manipulation Case, Orders One-Month Community Service
A division bench grounded its ruling in an NFCL forensic analysis that left the candidates’ allegations to contested facts outside writ review.
Overview
- The bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela affirmed the single judge’s September 22 dismissal of the students’ challenge to NTA findings.
- The Rs 30,000 costs imposed on each student were set aside, with an admonishment and community service ordered from May 15 to June 15, 11 am–1 pm daily, at an old age home and a Ghaziabad child care centre.
- The court accepted the NFCL report, noting missing browser logs at the time of the alleged scorecard downloads and finding the response sheets relied on by the students were not genuine.
- The judges described the claims as mathematically inconsistent and held that such disputed factual questions are not amenable to determination under Article 226.
- NTA’s bar on appearing in JEE 2025 and 2026 remains, the court clarified it should not be treated as a stigma and noted there is no bar on taking other examinations, with counsel saying the students volunteered to skip those JEE sessions.