The Allahabad High Court noted that a university requiring UGC NET for admission to PhD programmes cannot be coerced into accepting a Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST) score in its place. The observation came as a petitioner insisted that his JEST score be used as an alternative to NET. As reported by LiveLaw, the petitioner, Aakash Narayan, approached a bench led by Justice Jaspreet Singh, seeking an order directing Dr Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University, Lucknow, to allow him to appear for an interview for doctoral admission in Physics for the 2025-26 academic session. The petitioner possesses an MSc degree in Astronomy from Osmania University. He submitted before the bench that the university did not summon him for the interview due to the absence of a UGC NET score. He argued that the university should accept his JEST score instead of his UGC NET score, admit him to the PhD programme, and provide compensation of at least Rs 1 lakh along with litigation costs. The university, on the other hand, apprised the Court that it had mandated UGC NET as an eligibility criterion through a resolution dated October 26, 2024, and included it in the eligibility conditions prescribed in the prospectus for the 2025-26 academic session. It contended that JEST was not among the examinations recognised by the university under its admission criteria. Taking note of the university’s submissions, the Court turned down the petitioner’s plea. It observed that while JEST is a national-level examination accepted by participating institutions, not every higher education institution or university is obliged to consider it for PhD admissions. "If the university has accepted the UGC criteria as eligibility, it cannot be said that the same is arbitrary or violative of any Rule or Regulations. The petitioner cannot insist that a particular university must accept JEST Score despite the fact that it may be a national level examination", the Court said, as per a LiveLaw report. The Court said that a JEST score can be an “additional score” acceptable in HEIs, "but it cannot be said that a JEST Score must be accepted in all institutes and universities". Acknowledging that the university had adopted the relevant criteria and mentioned them in its admission prospectus, the Court remarked that the petitioner could not compel the university to accept the JEST score as a substitute for UGC NET. "...no specific directions can be given to any such institute to accept JEST Score as a mandatory condition", the Court observed. The Court also noted that the JEST scorecard in question was from 2009. Deepali Samaniya has been covering education for the past 2 years with a passion for SEO and a knack for crafting engaging stories. She specialises in... View More