Supreme Court Refuses to Interfere with KEAM Admission Process
Supreme Court of India
New Delhi: While considering a plea challenging a Kerala High Court decision that cancelled the KEAM exam results, the Supreme Court recently clarified that it would not interfere with this year's admission process based on the revised mark list of the Kerala Engineering Architecture Medical (KEAM) entrance exam 2025.
However, at the same time, the Apex Court has agreed to consider the question of law raised regarding the authority to modify the formula used to standardise marks from different boards. Asking the State Government to file its counter, the top court bench has posted the matter for a further hearing after four weeks.
The KEAM exam is an annual state-level entrance test for admitting students to various professional courses (including medical courses) in Kerala. The Commissioner for Entrance Examinations conducts this exam, and for admission to Medical courses, NEET scores are considered.
The controversy regarding the KEAM exam broke out after the State government introduced a new formula for rank list preparation just an hour before publication. According to the Government, this move was a "systemic disadvantage" for students under the Kerala State syllabus. Earlier, a single judge bench and a division bench of the Kerala High Court struck down the new formula. The High Court had earlier said that the standardisation method, which was mentioned in the original prospectus, was changed midway.
Also Read: KEAM 2024 Result Postponed, New Date to Be Announced Soon
Onmanorama has reported that the Supreme Court decided that it would not reinstate the rank list cancelled by the High Court, as any such intervention at this stage would create unnecessary uncertainty. Therefore, the High Court order quashing the government's mark-normalisation formula remains in force, and there is no stay on the judgment.
The plea before the Supreme Court has been filed by students from the state syllabus stream, who challenged the High Court order. The matter is being heard by a top court bench of Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar.
As per the latest media report by Law Chakra, appearing for the State of Kerala, Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, explained why the government did not appeal the High Court's order. Even though the Government planned to appeal, it decided against it to avoid affecting the All India Counselling process.
"We noticed that students from Kerala were at a disadvantage, which is why we chose not to file an appeal. To be clear, we did intend to appeal but didn’t want to disrupt the AICT process," submitted the State's counsel.
He also highlighted the need to look into deeper issues regarding the performance of Kerala's students and said, "It’s also important to examine why Kerala’s students are falling behind—there needs to be a review of the policy itself."
On the other hand, Advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for the petitioners and defended the changes made to the standardisation formula, arguing that the changes were not arbitrary but were based on expert advice.
The counsel submitted, "The change was made based on the expert committee’s recommendations."
Further, the counsel argued that the Court should only interfere when there is proven discrimination, which is not the case here. "The court can step in only if there is a clear case of discrimination, which hasn’t been shown here," he submitted.
Advocate Bhushan also submitted to the Court that the exam data was being handled through computerised systems and both the old and new merit lists were available for review.
After hearing the initial arguments, the bench decided to issue a notice. At this outset, Advocate Bhushan requested an early hearing, stating, "My Lords, please list it next week; AICT’s date is August 2."
However, Justice Narasimha clarified that the Court could not interfere with this year's process as it would cause confusion. The bench observed, "We can’t revisit this year it would create uncertainty."
Advocate Bhushan once again urged for an early date, warning that delay could hurt the state’s interests. "Early hearing is needed; otherwise, grave injustice to the state," he submitted.
Accordingly, the bench issued a notice, returnable in four weeks, and directed to file a counter-affidavit in the meantime.
Meanwhile, commenting on the issue, Higher Education Minister R Bindu told The New Indian Express, "The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has set a deadline of August 14 to wind up the admission process. The government has informed the apex court that it would challenge the High Court verdict only if the AICTE extends the deadline."
The State needs at least 30 days to complete the allotment process. Besides, the chances of a backlash from students and parents over the admission delay may prompt the government to settle for the rank list prepared on the basis of the old formula this year.
"At any cost, the government intends to implement the revised mark standardisation method for next year’s engineering entrance exam," said Bindu.
Amid this, the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) has extended the deadline for candidates to submit online options till July 18. The CEE published the final category list of students eligible for community reservation and the fee benefits for engineering and pharmacy courses on Wednesday and indicated that the admission process has already started.
