BENGALURU: Considering the marks secured by students in the PU II exam held in 2021 for admission to other undergraduate courses and not for determining ranks for admission to engineering and technical courses is not only discriminatory and arbitrary but also unfair and unreasonable, said the Karnataka High Court.
It quashed the ‘note’ by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) that the second PU marks obtained by CET repeaters, who are the petitioners, would not be considered for the CET ranking for 2022-23.
Allowing a batch of petitions by CET repeaters seeking directions to KEA to consider their marks in CET and 2021 qualifying examinations equally to determine the ranks for 2022-23, Justice SR Krishna Kumar directed KEA to redo CET rankings for admission to engineering and technology courses for 2022-23.
The students did not appear for the PU II examination in 2021, which was cancelled due to Covid and they were promoted through internal assessment. The government issued a notification on September 1, 2021, amending Rule 4 by inserting a proviso, stating that merit should be determined by considering the marks obtained only in the CET 2021-22.
For KCET 2022, 2,10,829 students appeared, of whom 1,69,328 are eligible for allotment of seats. Of the candidates who appeared, 23,344 belong to the 2020-21 batch. KEA released CET results and students’ rankings on July 30, 2022, and also issued the note the same day.
The court said KEA’s conduct in not informing petitioners has resulted in denying an opportunity to the petitioners and other students to surrender their previous year’s Second PUC/12th standard marks and retake the Second PUC/12th standard examinations once again is yet another factor that would vitiate the impugned order.
KCET FRESHERS LEFT DISAPPOINTED
Karnataka Common Entrance Test (KCET) fresher students are unhappy with the Karnataka High Court’s judgment granting relief to the petitioners against Karnataka Examination Authority’s decision to not consider PU marks for the final KCET score.
With the judgement going in favour of repeat students, the freshers might consider dropping out this year. Many freshers are now confused and disappointed about their ranks as recalculation will cause their ranks to dip. Yashwant K, a fresher, said all of their hard work is in vain, and they are worried about their future. He said he is extremely worried about the re-ranking and is confused about whether to drop out or not.
The students are also worried that if many drop out this year, the number of repeaters next year will be huge. Piyush Sahoo, another fresher, said it was not possible for him to take a drop year, and he plans to seek admission on the basis of the new ranks.
KEA executive director Ramya S said they will be formulating a plan for re-ranking and also expected initiation of counselling processes soon, after going through the court’s order.