HC asks Karnataka Exam Authority to prepare KCET 2022 ranking list again

The Karnataka High Court has quashed a note issued by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) and directed the authority to prepare the entire rank list again. The court has asked the authority to redo the ranking list after considering 50 per cent PUC marks and 50 percent CET marks of all students.

The single-judge bench of Justice S R Krishna Kumar quashed the July 30 note of the KEA in which second year pre-university exam marks of students from the 2020-21 batch was not considered for rankings in entrance to professional courses.

For students of 2021-22 batch, the usual 50 per cent Common Entrance Test marks and 50 per cent second year PU marks were considered. But for students of the 2020-21 batch, only the CET test marks was considered as per the CEA note.


The KEA had said it is not considering second year PU exam marks of 2020-21 students as they were promoted based on internal marks since the exams were hampered during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The court, quashing the note said, considering PU second year marks as 'nil' "would lead to and result in absurd consequences which cannot be countenanced in the facts and circumstances of the instant case."

The KEA note was found illegal on several counts. The provision made for CET ranking in 2020-21 cannot be extended to 2021-22, the court said.

The court also said the July 30 note is contrary to the KEA's own bulletin. The "impugned note is contrary to the principles of legitimate expectation and promissory estoppel and the same deserves to be quashed," the court said.