We will not interfere when there is a grey area: Delhi High Court on CAT 2024 results

The Delhi High Court on Friday reserved its judgment on a petition challenging the results of the Common Admission Test (CAT) 2024 for admission to Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other business schools [Aditya Kumar Mallick v. Union Of India And Anr]..The petition was filed by a CAT candidate who alleged that there is an uncorrected error in the answer key, which has affected the CAT results.When the matter was heard this morning, Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju observed that the Court cannot intervene in such disputes concerning competitive exams, except in certain limited circumstances. "Law is clear on this aspect, normally the court will not interfere. Only when there is egregious wrong, we will interfere. When there is a grey area, we will not interfere," it observed. .Appearing for the petitioner-candidate, Advocate Praveen Kumar Singh urged the Court to hear the matter, more so since the petitioner's objection to the answer key has been supported by others, including CAT coaching centres."272 objections were filed on this one question...Even if two options are correct, we (candidates who did not choose the answer marked as correct in the answer key) are benefiting," Singh argued. He added that the reply filed by IIM Calcutta, which organised the exam, does not explain how its answer is correct and how the candidate’s answer is wrong. “They also do not disclose who are the experts examining objections,” Singh further argued. .The lawyer went on to take the Court through a few videos in the post-lunch hearing of the matter, showing how coaching centres have explained the solution to the relevant question in focus..IIM Calcutta was represented by Senior Advocate Arvind Nayar, who opposed any interference by the Court in the matter as well as the solutions arrived at by the coaching centres. He argued that the subject matter expert committee already considered the objections and that a personal difference of opinion about the right answer did not undermine the committee's view. Nayar urged the Court to trust the exam examiners' view in the matter, in case there was any doubt on what the right answer was. The credentials and names of the members of the experts were also given in a sealed cover to the Court. .The petitioner's counsel, however, maintained that there is scope for the Court's interference in this case. "Why so much concealment?...It has to be explained why their answer is correct, then why my answer is wrong," Singh contended. He also relied on the Delhi High Court's recent directive to revise the results of the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT), after it found merit in a candidate's objection to two answers in the final answer key. .After hearing the rival arguments, the Court proceeded to reserve its verdict in the matter. .The CAT 2024 exam was conducted on November 24. A provisional answer key was released on December 3. An aspirant (petitioner) who took the exam has raised an objection to the provisional answer key, contending that there was an error in an answer declared for a question from the comprehension section of the exam paper.Despite the objection, the aspirant states, the final answer key was released with no change in the provisional answer key. The aspirant says that his objection is supported by distinguished experts and faculty members of various CAT coaching centres.His plea added that a total of 272 objections were raised by various candidates on this question. .He further contended that IIM Calcutta hurriedly declared the results on December 19 without giving any reason or affording him time to take legal recourse. The aspirant argued that the result was expected in the second week of January 2025, and the haste in declaring results in December "speaks volumes."He, therefore, has urged the High Court to set aside the results declared in December and to appoint an expert committee to ascertain the correct answers..The candidate was represented by Advocates Praveen Kumar Singh, Sanal Nambiar, Ishita Goel, Chetna Singh and Charu Singh.IIM Calcutta was represented by Senior Advocate Arvind Nayar instructed by the team of Fox & Mandal led by Advocate Kunal Vajani along with Advocates Kunal Mimani, Sharmistha Ghosh, Kartikey Bhatt and Tanish Arora.