MH-CET row: Maharashtra CET Cell files complaint over Rs 12 lakh 'special' exam centre offer

The Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test CET Cell has lodged a police complaint after an audio clip surfaced in which a woman allegedly offered an engineering aspirant a special examination centre for Rs 12 lakh claiming it would help secure an exceptionally high percentileThe development comes amid growing concerns raised by students parents and the Opposition Congress over the credibility of the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test MHCET for engineering admissions following reports of candidates with modest academic records securing nearperfect percentilesCET Cell files complaint over audio clipState CET Cell Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer Dilip Sardesai said the authorities had taken cognisance of the unverified audio recording despite not receiving a formal complaintThe MHCET Cell has not received any complaint in connection with the audio clip We have taken cognisance of it and lodged complaints with the State Cyber Cell and the Azad Maidan police Sardesai told reportersThe alleged audio clip purportedly features a woman offering a parent a special examination centre in exchange for Rs 12 lakh claiming the arrangement would help the student secure admission to a reputed governmentaided engineering collegeCET Cell rejects allegations over exam centre allocationSardesai dismissed allegations that students could influence the allotment of examination centresHe explained that candidates can choose four preferred examination cities while female candidates may opt for centres within their home district Students are informed of the city where they will appear about a week before the examination while the exact centre is disclosed only two days before the testNo student has the final say in selecting the examination centre It is allotted randomly through a computerised process he saidHe added that while the CET Cell would analyse cases that had attracted attention the audio clip alone could not be treated as evidence of wrongdoing by candidates who secured high scoresCongress raises questions over high scorersThe controversy intensified after Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Balaji Gade questioned the results of two candidates from Nanded alleging that despite scoring modest marks in the Class 12 board examination and the Joint Entrance Examination JEE they secured 99 percentile in the MHCETHow did they score so high Did they get the examination paper in advance How was it leaked Gade asked in a video statementThese allegations have not been independently verifiedCET Cell cites data urges cautionSardesai said isolated cases should not be used to cast doubt on an examination taken by lakhs of studentsAccording to the CET Cell 463 lakh students appeared for the MHCET this year Of these 235 lakh participated in the Centralised Admission Process CAP while 229 lakh did notHe said around 25000 candidates outside the CAP secured more than 80 percentile while 4319 students scored above 95 percentileIf we had the data of the remaining highscoring candidates outside CAP it would have helped us analyse the issue more comprehensively Sardesai saidHe maintained that statistical outliers are possible in any largescale examination and that a few unusual cases should not be treated as proof of malpracticeStudents and parents seek independent probeSeveral parents and students have demanded an independent investigation into the examination process claiming that candidates with relatively low scores in the Class 12 board examinations had secured exceptionally high MHCET percentilesSome students said the alleged irregularities could affect admissions to top engineering colleges by pushing down the rankings of genuine high performersTeacher Dinesh Kumar Gupta also questioned the results stating that the MHCET is generally considered more challenging than the Class 12 board examination and that cases involving exceptionally high improvements in performance should be examined thoroughlyThe Maharashtra CET Cell has said it will analyse the cases under scrutiny while the police investigate the authenticity of the audio clipWith inputs from PTI