When 18-year-old Athul Krishna A M received a call on Saturday from entrance tutor Ajas Mohammed, asking if he was willing to travel to Delhi to challenge the Kerala High Court’s verdict on the Kerala Engineering, Architecture and Medical (KEAM) Entrance Examination rank list, he didn’t hesitate.

Athul, a Palakkad native, was working at a car showroom in Mannarkkad after completing his exams. He immediately informed his employer, sought permission, packed his bags, and reached Kozhikode International Airport in time for the 9 pm flight to the national capital.

Athul is among 12 students—who passed Class 12 under the Kerala State Board—who have now approached the Supreme Court. The petition, filed through Advocate Zulfiker Ali PS, challenges the Kerala High Court’s July 10 order that quashed the KEAM rank list issued on July 1. The students argue that the High Court order unfairly benefits CBSE students and, once again, disadvantages those from the state board.

The petitioners hail from various districts, including Palakkad, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Kannur, Alappuzha, and Malappuram. However, Athul is the only student who flew to Delhi in person to file the petition. He is accompanied by Ajas and his colleague from the coaching institute.

"I represent every state syllabus student who deserves justice," Athul told Onmanorama from Delhi. “We have always heard CBSE students joke, ‘You study hard, we’ll get 27 marks more.’ That used to hurt. When the state government introduced the revised formula, it was the first time we felt treated fairly. The ranking was done justly, without favouring any board.”

Athul, who completed his Plus Two from DHS Nellippuzha, repeated a year to prepare for KEAM and underwent entrance coaching at a private institute in Kottayam. His dream is to secure admission to the College of Engineering, Trivandrum (CET) for Electronics and Electrical Engineering.

When the KEAM results were first published on July 1, he had secured the 1777th rank—enough to make it to CET. But after the High Court's verdict and the revised list - after scrapping the fresh formula - on July 10, his rank dropped to 2975.

“It was a huge setback. My chances at CET vanished,” Athul said. “So when Ajas called, I didn’t think twice. My father has always said that nothing will change if we only complain among ourselves—we must act.” Athul’s father Manikanada Jyothi works as a carpenter in Mannarkkadu and his mother Priya works in a private firm.

The Kerala government had modified the rank calculation formula by changing the weightage of marks in Physics, Chemistry, and Maths in the 10+2 exams from a 1:1:1 ratio to 5:3:2, aligning it more closely with the actual academic difficulty and “ensuring parity with CBSE students”. The 50:50 ratio between entrance and board marks remained unchanged.

The state board students’ petition argues that the earlier formula created a disparity by favouring CBSE candidates, and the amended method was introduced precisely to correct this injustice. The High Court, they claim, failed to appreciate this and instead reinstated an unequal system.

“As per the revised formula, no student was denied their deserved marks. But the previous formula effectively gave CBSE students more marks, while state syllabus students lost out,” said Athul. “We all study hard. Marks should be awarded fairly, not based on the board we studied under.”

The petition states that the Kerala High Court overstepped its jurisdiction and violated the principle of equality by rejecting the revised formula. “This amendment was meant to level the playing field. Our only demand is equality—for state and CBSE students alike,” Ajas said.

The petitioners are seeking the restoration of the original rank list released on July 1 or a fair revision that does justice to both streams. “I don’t want first or second rank—I just want the rank I rightfully earned,” Athul added.

“With the Centralised Allotment Process for 2025–26 engineering admissions set to begin on July 16, we have requested the Supreme Court to list the matter urgently, hoping for a hearing by Wednesday,” said Advocate Zulfiker Ali.

Public interest lawyer Prashant Bhushan is expected to appear in the case. “What’s at stake is not just admission to a college—it’s the right to be treated equally,” Ajas said.