Counselling of the 490 physically challenged students on the state Joint Entrance Examination engineering merit list was postponed on Sunday after a scuffle between parents and board officials over new norms.

The trouble started at Salt Lake stadium after a few candidates were disqualified on medical grounds.

“According to a recent Supreme Court directive, only students with 50 to 70 per cent disability or locomotor disability of lower limb can be admitted under the physically disabled criteria. We had to disqualify some students for not meeting the criteria,” said a board official.

“We were never informed about the new system. The board should have prepared the list accordingly and never called us,” a parent told officers from Bidhannagar South police station.

“The revised date of counselling will be declared within two or three days,” said Siddhartha Dutta, the chairman of the JEE board.