The State government filed an appeal before a Division Bench of the High Court of Karnataka challenging the single judge’s order of quashing CET-2022 ranking for UG engineering courses and directing the Karnataka Examinations Authority to redo the ranking by taking II PU marks and CET-2022 marks in the ratio of 50:50, even for the students who passed II PU in 2021.
The appeal is listed for hearing before the Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty on Thursday.
The government, in its appeal, has contended that the single judge had erred in holding that the rule amended in 2021 to consider only the marks of CET to allot ranks in CET-2021 in view of non-holding of II PU exams in the year 2021 due to COVID-19 was applicable only to the students who wrote CET-2021.
The government said that those students, who were awarded with marks for II PU in 2021 by way of a special methodology in view of non-conduct of II PU exams, cannot claim parity with students who wrote II PU exams in 2022.
The students who passed II PU in 2021 and reappeared for CET-2022 cannot be equated with the students, who passed II PU in 2022 by writing full-fledged exams for consideration of marks in 50:50 ratio as per the rule applicable for considering 50% marks of the qualifying exam, that is the II PU exam.
Special methodology
The students who benefited in passing II PU in 2021 through the marks awarded to them by way of a special methodology cannot claim consideration of their II PU marks for CET ranking merely because they reappeared for the CET-2022, the government has contended in its appeal.
The rule, amended in 2021 for considering only CET marks to allot ranks applicable to the II PU students who were beneficiaries of marks awarded by way of special methodology due to non conduct of II PU exams, is applicable to them irrespective of whether they appeared for CET-2021 or CET-2022.
