The Supreme Court on Friday allowed petitioners, who dropped out of their courses between November 5 and November 18, 2024, to register for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)-Advanced. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih passed the order while hearing the pleas against bringing down from three to two, the attempts given to JEE-Advanced aspirants. The apex court noted the joint admission board (JAB), entrusted to conduct the JEE-Advanced exam, had issued a press release on November 5 last year which said students who appeared for the class 12 examination in academic years 2023, 2024 and 2025 would be eligible to appear for the JEE-Advanced. The bench further said on November 18, 2024, another press release was issued restricting the eligibility to only two academic years -- 2024 and 2025. "If the students, acting on the said representation (of November 5), have dropped from their course with an understanding that they would be entitled to appear for JEE ...