KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has directed the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations (CEE) to publish the list of candidates who were initially included in the ‘reserved’ category, but later shifted to the ‘open’ category considering the last rank allotted in the open category.
Justice A Muhamed Mustaque issued the directive on petitions filed by Mahin Noushad of Kanjirappally, Kottayam and others. They submitted that they were denied reservation, despite being entitled for reservation, on account of the fact that certain candidates, who would have otherwise come under the open category, had been considered as reserved category candidates, on the basis of the option exercised by them in relation to reserved seats in professional colleges. The petitioners contended that there were 630 seats in the open category for the MBBS course. “Certain candidates belonging to the Muslim and Ezhava communities have been placed in reserved category, instead of open category. This was caused by the non-preparation of separate lists for the open category and reserved category students,” they said.
The State, meanwhile, submitted that candidates who would have come under the open merit list would be treated as open category candidates for computing the percentage of reservation. No candidate, who is otherwise entitled to get admission in the open category, has been included in the reserved category earmarked for the Muslim and Ezhava communities. The court observed that publishing the lists would bring in transparency and fairness in the procedure. The court also observed that in every entrance examination, the list of such candidates shall be published by the Commissioner, showing the details of the candidates who are treated as open category candidates though they were included in the reserved category at the time of admission.