The members of the Standardization Review Committee (SRC) constituted to modify the existing procedure to evaluate marks for KEAM had warned of legal consequences in the very first meeting held in April.

Members of the committee who spoke to Onmanorama on condition of anonymity said that even before any discussion, it was cited that any change in the formula wouldn't stand in court. "We also pointed out the reason. The prospectus, which was published in February, had a formula. We were asked to review this and suggest modifications. The exams were underway. It was never going to stand in the court," said a member of the committee.

The committee had its first meeting on April 28. The entrance examination was held from April 23 to 29. By the time the government set off steps to amend formula, the examination had already begun and there was only a day left for the final exam. The concerns were communicated verbally to the Commissioner of Entrance Examination (CEE), who was the convenor of the committee. In addition, the report shows that during the four meetings, the committee members repeatedly said that introducing a new formula or making any modifications to the existing one would only be possible after thorough and detailed studies.

According to the members, they requested data in the first meeting but they never got time to analyse the data. "There were growing complaints about weightage affecting the chances of state syllabus students. We understand that if the ratio of CBSE to state syllabus students gaining admission in entrance tests was 60:40 before 2018, it became 75:25 later, however we needed data to study and establish this," a member said.

It was also suggested that if at all, the government was keen on amending the prospectus, it should have withheld the examination and republished the prospectus without a formula. "You could have said that the formula would be determined by an expert committee. But in this case the formula was clearly shown in the prospectus and then there was an attempt to change it midway. Any public interest litigation was enough to undo such changes," another member of the committee said. They recalled that there had been previous initiatives to emulate the model of West Bengal in the evaluation of marks, but they were dropped.

The second meeting was held on May 5, in which four different types of formulae were presented using sample data derived from the mark data of KEAM applicants from 2012 to 2024. It was also noted that the formula was tested using a very limited sample and that the parameters used in the formula were derived from that sample itself.

The members said that the government did not ask them to come up with a formula favouring state syllabus students, but were informed of the complaints about state syllabus students being at a disadvantage.