KEAM row: SC refuses to stay Kerala HC order, admissions to proceed as per revised rank list

New Delhi, July 16 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Wednesday made it very clear that it will not interfere with this year's admission process based on the revised marks list of the Kerala Engineering Architecture Medical (KEAM) entrance exam.

Last week, first the Kerala High Court single bench and then a division bench dismissed the state government’s appeal challenging the single bench’s verdict.

The single bench had annulled the KEAM rank list published on July 1.

The high court maintained that the last-minute change in the eligibility criteria was unjustified and directed the authorities to revert to the original prospectus and issue a revised rank list.

The controversy erupted after the state government issued a Government Order (GO) on July 1 -- the same day the rank list was published -- altering the evaluation formula.

As per the amended criteria, the ratio of marks for Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry was changed from 1:1:1 to 5:3:2, effectively affecting students from CBSE and ICSE backgrounds, who alleged that the change was biased and arbitrary.

With a double blow, the Pinarayi Vijayan government decided not to appeal against the division bench verdict and started to go forward with the allotment. A group of students studying in the Kerala Syllabus approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay of the high court decision.

The only positive that came out from Wednesday’s decision was that the apex court agreed to hear 'the question of law' raised regarding the power to change the formula to standardise the marks of different boards.

Despite a passionate plea from the counsel of the petitioners for an urgent hearing next week, the bench posted the matter after four weeks, asking the state to file its counter.

The court was also informed that the counsel for the Vijayan government was not filing any petition against the High Court's order, as it does not want to delay the admission process.

"Let me make it clear, we wanted to file an appeal, but we didn't want to upset the process," said the counsel.

With this curtain comes down on the issue. The question of law is to be examined next month, but by then the admission process will be on.

--IANS

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