The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed a review petition filed by the state government, affirming that the evaluation of the recently concluded Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examinations must follow existing rules rather than a newly proposed grading system. The court emphasized that the government failed to formally notify the changes before the exams were conducted, making the retrospective application of new rules legally untenable.
The legal dispute originated from an announcement made by the School Education and Literacy Minister, Bangarappa, on March 27. The Minister stated that, starting from the current academic year, the marks system for the third language in SSLC exams would be replaced by a grading system. Under this proposal, individual grades would be awarded for third-language subjects, and these would not be factored into the computation of a student’s final aggregate marks.
Notably, this announcement came mid-way through the SSLC examination cycle, which was held between March 18 and April 2. Three students subsequently approached the High Court, challenging the government’s move to alter the evaluation criteria after the notification for the exam had already been issued and the exams were underway.
During the proceedings, Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty defended the government’s decision, citing the high failure rate in Hindi (the third language for many) as a primary motivator. He argued that the grading system was intended to minimize academic pressure on students.
The Advocate General also informed the court that the state was in the process of drafting appropriate amendments to the rules to formalize the transition from marks to grades.
A single-judge bench presided over by Justice E.S. Indiresh took a critical view of the government’s procedural lapses. The court noted that the state had neither promulgated the necessary rules nor issued a regular notification regarding the change in the evaluation system before the exams began.
Justice Indiresh pointed out that the changes were introduced only after the examinations had commenced. Addressing the government’s justification regarding student failure rates, the court noted that 83 percent of students had passed the examination regardless.
“If the intention was to see everyone pass, why did it conduct the examination?” the judge remarked, questioning the logic of changing the rules post-facto to accommodate passing percentages. The court maintained that the state government should have provided clarity on the evaluation criteria before issuing the initial examination notification.
The High Court declined to entertain the state’s review petition against the earlier directions. Consequently, the authorities are now mandated to conduct the valuation of the recently held SSLC examinations as per the “existing rules” which require the awarding of marks for the third language, rather than the proposed non-contributory grades.
The court reiterated that evaluation must align with the standards established in the notification issued for the 2025-26 academic year, ensuring that the rules of the game are not changed after the game has started.
