3 min readMumbaiMay 19, 2026 09:10 PM IST
Amid the ongoing controversy over alleged irregularities in national entrance examinations, Maharashtra Congress on Tuesday demanded a high-level inquiry into the 2025 MHT-CET results, alleging discrepancies between students’ board examination scores and their CET percentile rankings.
AICC secretary Sachin Sawant alleged several students who had scored between 35 and 40 per cent in their SSC and HSC examinations had secured 100 percentile scores in the state entrance examination.
“This is clearly suspicious and demands a high-level inquiry and strict punishment for those responsible,” Sawant said while addressing a press conference in Mumbai.
Citing specific cases, Sawant claimed a student who scored 37 per cent in Class 10 had secured a 99.971 percentile in MHT-CET, while two students with 51 per cent marks in Class 12 had obtained 100 percentile scores in the entrance examination. He further alleged students scoring 45, 39 and even 35 per cent in Class 12 had secured top percentile rankings in the CET.
The Congress leader also questioned the performance pattern among top-ranking candidates in the Mathematics stream. According to Sawant, students ranked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17 and 18 in the MHT-CET Mathematics stream had an average HSC Mathematics score of only 64.3 per cent.
“Out of these ten top-ranked students, six had scored below this average, with HSC Mathematics marks of 60, 54, 53, 53, 40 and 35 respectively. Six students among the Top 20 CET rankers had scored below 60 per cent in the HSC board examination,” he alleged.
The MHT-CET is conducted by the state CET Cell for admissions to professional courses including engineering, pharmacy, management, agriculture, law and allied programmes.
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Rejecting the allegations, the CET Cell issued a statement asserting the examination process was transparent and free from irregularities.
“The CET Cell would like to assure students, parents and public representatives that the conduct of the CET is completely transparent. There has been no irregularity or scam in the process. No error has occurred in the 2025 CET merit list,” the statement said.
The CET Cell further said confusion may have arisen due to differences between percentage marks and percentile scores, and urged students and parents with doubts to approach the department for clarification.
Sources in the Higher and Technical Education Department also dismissed the allegations, with a senior official stating “the details are unclear and the numbers do not match”.
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Sawant, however, said he would submit a detailed representation to the CET Commission seeking a formal explanation and inquiry into the matter. He also alleged the same officials had continued to serve in the CET examination cell for the past eight to ten years without transfers.
