The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to defer the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) JEE Mains examination scheduled this month. A division bench of Chief Justice S V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep Marne held that it would not be appropriate to postpone the pan-India examination in response to a Public Interest Litigation as it would affect lakhs of IIT aspirants.

The PIL was filed by child rights activist Anubha Sahai who wanted the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains to be deferred till March. The petition challenged the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) December 15 notification scheduling the examination between January 24 and 31, 2023. The petitioner contended that the schedule was announced at very short notice. In the past, exam dates were declared three or four months in advance, giving time to students to prepare, Sahai said. The HC refused to grant any relief.