Bombay High Court cancels B.Tech admission after Maharashtra CET scorecard tampering found
The Bombay High Court has upheld the cancellation of a student's provisional admission to a B.Tech Renewable Energy Engineering course after finding that the Maharashtra CET scorecard submitted during the admission process had been tampered with. The student had secured provisional admission to the first year of the 2026-2030 programme at a private university in Pune on June 23, 2026.
The institution detected discrepancies in the mark sheet and informed the student on July 10 that the provisional admission would be cancelled. The cancellation was formally communicated by email on July 14. The student subsequently approached the High Court through a writ petition filed on July 17, challenging the action and claiming that the disputed scorecard had been downloaded from the official CET website.
CET Cell records establish scorecard tampering
The Court directed the State CET Cell to investigate the differences between the mark sheets relied upon by the student and the original examination records. In its supplementary report submitted on August 4, 2026, the State CET Cell established that the mark sheets annexed to the writ petition had not been issued by the CET Cell.
The records showed that the student's actual total percentile scores were 7.8474707 in the first attempt and 13.5482364 in the second attempt. The documents relied upon by the student instead showed percentiles of 78.874707 and 73.5482364.
The CET Cell's original records were placed before the Court, establishing that the documents used to support the student's admission claim had been tampered with or forged.
Court upholds cancellation of admission
A division bench comprising Justices Farhan P. Dubash and R. I. Chagla found no concrete basis to question the findings of the State CET Cell. Since the document used to establish higher percentile scores and obtain admission was found to be forged, the Court dismissed the student's petition and upheld the cancellation of admission.
The Court stated that examination processes determining merit and allocating limited educational opportunities depend on the integrity of examinations and the authenticity of documents submitted by candidates.
Court stresses importance of genuine examination records
The Court observed that altering marks, percentiles or scorecards undermines the examination process, particularly in admissions to professional courses where merit determines educational opportunities. It also stated that concerns over low marks or percentiles cannot justify unauthorised alteration of examination results.
The Court further noted that such conduct affects students who participated honestly and competed for admission on the basis of their actual examination performance.
The institution detected discrepancies in the mark sheet and informed the student on July 10 that the provisional admission would be cancelled. The cancellation was formally communicated by email on July 14. The student subsequently approached the High Court through a writ petition filed on July 17, challenging the action and claiming that the disputed scorecard had been downloaded from the official CET website.
CET Cell records establish scorecard tampering
The Court directed the State CET Cell to investigate the differences between the mark sheets relied upon by the student and the original examination records. In its supplementary report submitted on August 4, 2026, the State CET Cell established that the mark sheets annexed to the writ petition had not been issued by the CET Cell.
The records showed that the student's actual total percentile scores were 7.8474707 in the first attempt and 13.5482364 in the second attempt. The documents relied upon by the student instead showed percentiles of 78.874707 and 73.5482364.
The CET Cell's original records were placed before the Court, establishing that the documents used to support the student's admission claim had been tampered with or forged.
Court upholds cancellation of admission
A division bench comprising Justices Farhan P. Dubash and R. I. Chagla found no concrete basis to question the findings of the State CET Cell. Since the document used to establish higher percentile scores and obtain admission was found to be forged, the Court dismissed the student's petition and upheld the cancellation of admission.
The Court stated that examination processes determining merit and allocating limited educational opportunities depend on the integrity of examinations and the authenticity of documents submitted by candidates.
Court stresses importance of genuine examination records
The Court observed that altering marks, percentiles or scorecards undermines the examination process, particularly in admissions to professional courses where merit determines educational opportunities. It also stated that concerns over low marks or percentiles cannot justify unauthorised alteration of examination results.
The Court further noted that such conduct affects students who participated honestly and competed for admission on the basis of their actual examination performance.
Next Story