Kerala high court nixes last-minute changes to KEAM prospectus, orders fresh rank list

Kochi: Kerala high court on Wednesday set aside the last-minute changes made to the prospectus of KEAM (Kerala Engineering, Architecture and Medical) entrance examination 2025, which were introduced just an hour before the publication of the rank list, resulting in the nullification of the current rank list.The bench of Justice D K Singh observed that altering the prospectus shortly before the release of the results was "unjustified, arbitrary and illegal". It directed the commissioner for entrance examinations (CEE) to issue a fresh rank list based on the original prospectus dated Feb 19, 2025.The state govt has filed an appeal challenging the order. The matter is scheduled to be considered by a division bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and S Muralee Krishna on Thursday."Prima facie, it appears that someone analysed the results, found that students from the state stream had not performed well, and, in an attempt to satisfy that constituency, took a mala fide and arbitrary decision to alter the prospectus an hour before publication of the results. Such an exercise cannot be countenanced on any ground," Justice Singh said.The court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by Hana Fathima Ahinus from Ernakulam and other engineering aspirants who cleared Class XII under the CBSE stream. The primary grievance was the last-minute alteration to the standardisation formula in the prospectus. Under the amended formula, the final-year marks in mathematics, physics and chemistry were first converted to a scale of 100 and then considered in the ratio of 5:3:2 (mathematics – 150, physics – 90, chemistry – 60), with the total calculated out of 300. The original prospectus had prescribed equal weightage to all three subjects (1:1:1). The petitioners argued that the change was made with the ulterior motive of reducing the weightage for CBSE and ICSE students.Opposing the petitions, the state argued that it had the authority to amend the prospectus even after the examination or on the day the rank list is published, citing Clause 1.6 of the prospectus. However, the court questioned whether, even assuming such power exists, it could be exercised at any stage and in any manner. It noted that the prospectus had been issued on Feb 19 and the entrance examinations were held from April 23 to 29. "The govt suddenly woke up because it got some supernatural wisdom to realise that the prospectus was glaringly illegal. Therefore, it needed amendment, that too, one hour before the publication of the rank list on July 1, without offering any satisfactory explanation," the court observed.It also referred to an earlier division bench ruling that held that the prospectus cannot be amended after the last date for submission of applications. Justice Singh reaffirmed the principle that "the rules of the game cannot be changed midway, once the game has begun." The court further criticised the govt for altering the standardisation criteria after collecting Plus Two marks from candidates who had appeared for KEAM.