JEE exam: Notice issued to IIT-K

Issuing notice to Registrar of IIT Kanpur, returnable by June 25, Justice S Vaidyanathan, said “There shall be an interim order not to evaluate the examination papers based on the clarification issued subsequent to the examination. It is made clear that if evaluation had been done based on the clarification issued after the examination, allotment of seats shall not be based on the same.”

Lakshmi Sree L through her father had contended that on qualifying in JEE main she appeared in JEE advanced on May 25.

In the exam, one of the question stated: A) This section contains eight questions and the answer to each question is a numerical value, B) For each question, enter the correct numerical value (in decimal notation, truncated/rounded off to the second decimal place eg 6.25, 7.00. -0.33. -.30, 30.27, 127.30, C) Answer to each question will be evaluated according to the following marking scheme. Full marks: +3 if only the correct numerical value is entered as answer. Zero marks: in all other cases.

But after the examination was over, a clarification was issued, which stated, For Numerical answer-type questions, the numerical value entered by the candidate will be evaluated. Wherever applicable, depending on the question, answers will be evaluated by checking whether the answer entered by the candidate falls within a range of two values, with or without including the upper and lower values of the range depending on the question. some examples: (1) If an answer is the integer 11 (Eleven), all answers entered as 11, 11.0 or 11.00 will be correct. (2) If an answer is exactly the number 11.5, all answers entered as 11.5 or 11.50 will be correct. (3) If an answer is the number 11.367777777 ...., all answers entered within a specified range, for example 11.36 to 11.37 (this range is shown for illustration purposes only) will be correct. Thus, both answers 11.36 and 11.37 will be correct.

Based on this, the petitioner contended that the said clarification is illegal and that it should have been issued prior to the examination.