CAT 2020: Kerala HC Refuses to Conduct Retest for Covid-19 Positive Candidates; Check Details Here

January 10, 2021: Kerala High Court has denied the order to conduct a retest for the candidate who failed to appear for the CAT 2020 Exam due to being tested positive for COVID-19.

Justice PB Suresh Kumar has refused to permit the retest for the applicant, stating that it will take time to prepare question papers for applicants, and will also affect the career prospects of those candidates who appeared for the CAT 2020 Exam. 

Check: CAT Cut off 2020: IIMs & Top MBA Colleges Cut off, CAT Percentile for General/ OBC/ SC/ST

Referring to the order issued, Justice PB Suresh Kumar stated; "Merely for the reason that the petitioner could not participate in the test on account of reasons not attributable to him, according to me, this Court would not be justified in ordering the test to be conducted afresh, as for conducting the test afresh”. 

He further added that authorities will have to prepare a new set of question papers for the same. Additionally, the same time and effort will be required by a large number of people. 

“Even if such a course is adopted, the courses cannot be conducted by the institutes as scheduled by them now, which would adversely affect the career prospects of a large number of candidates who have appeared for the test” he stated.

Check: CAT 2020 Counselling Schedule, Procedure, Admission Status, and Seat Allotment

Earlier, the candidate who was registered for Common Admission Test (CAT) 2020, and could not appear for the exam due to COVID-19, filed a petition to request for a retest.

As per the petitioner's request, the applicant’s family member was tested positive, earlier, on November 22, 2020, for which mandatory quarantine protocols were followed in accordance with Health Service Department of Kerala guidelines. 

He later wrote a letter to the concerned exam authority requesting details regarding CAT 2020 guidelines. In response, the exam authority gave him a green signal, stating that he could appear for the CAT 2020 exam. 

Later, the applicant was found positive for COVID-19 on November 27, 2020, following which, when asked about protocols to be followed, he did not receive any response from the exam authority.

Read: CAT 2020: Scorecard, Toppers List Released; Check Result 

CAT 2020 was conducted successfully by the Indian Institute of Management, Indore on November 29, 2020, through computer-based mode in 425 centers in 159 test cities across the country. 

A total of 1.90 lakh appeared for the CAT 2020 exam. The result for the same was also released on January 02, 2021, for applicants to check and download.