JEE Advanced 2017: Why bonus marks were given to questions not attempted asks SC

"It is a problem and it has to be solved at the earliest. We will think about the solution but don't create further confusion by giving admission, the bench said.

Finding faults with the vague and wrong questions in the JEE Advanced 2017, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed the ongoing counselling and admission in IITs, NIITs, IIITs and all government-funded engineering colleges.

The order came at a time when 33,000 candidates have already taken admissions in various IITs across the country. The next round of counselling starts on Monday. The court said that all engineering colleges are hereby restrained from inducting students till the controversy over the bonus marks was adjudicated by it.

The bench is examining IIT's decision to award 18 bonus marks to all the candidates (11 marks for incorrect questions in Paper II and 7 marks for incorrect questions in Paper I) irrespective of whether they attempted the said questions or not.

Questioning the validity of the decision, the bench said that the Supreme Court had in 2005 held that bonus marks for wrong questions could be given to only those students who attempted the question.

"It is a problem and it has to be solved at the earliest. We will think about the solution but don't create further confusion by giving admission, the bench said.

"It is respectfully submitted that the relief is entirely against equity since the process of seat allocation is going on and around 33,000 candidates have already accepted the allotted seat and reported for physical verification of the documents ... It is submitted that in case ongoing counselling and admission process is disturbed, the admission procedure of more than 36,000 students in 97 institutes under the joint seat allocation programme for IITs, NIITs, IIITs and GFTIs (Government Funded Technical Institutions) would be scrapped," IIT said in its affidavit.

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