KCET Repeaters Verdict: Will the KEA file appeal against K'taka High Court's order?

The Karnataka Examinations Authority is now contemplating an appeal against the Karnataka High Court's order directing it to consider 50% PUC marks for all students in the Karnataka Common Entrance Test issue. 

After a meeting with top officials from the Higher Education department, KEA Executive Director S Ramya, legal experts, Higher Education Minister Dr Ashwathnarayan CN said that the KEA was considering filing an appeal against the order that quashed its note stating that PUC marks will not be considered in the KCET merit score for the 2021 PUC batch since they did not write the exams due to the pandemic. 

The previous order was passed by a single judge bench of the court, and KEA is looking to challenge it before a divisional bench. The earlier petition was filed by a few students from the PUC 2021 batch who repeated the KCET exam this year, as they found that their PUC marks were not calculated, unlike students of the 2022 batch. The KCET counselling was put on hold after protests erupted against the KEA's decision

Now, KCET freshers are claiming that the order puts their careers in jeopardy as their ranks might see a drop if the KEA adjusts the merit list based on the high court orders. Out of the roughly 2,00,000 candidates who wrote the exam this year, 1.5 lakh were freshers, and 24,000 were repeaters from the 2021 batch.

When EdexLive asked KEA's Executive Director S Ramya about whether this case will delay the academic calendar, she said, "I don't think there will be any delay. We are still going over the appeal and looking into the matter. At the same time, the document verification process is ongoing."