The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) came under judicial scrutiny on Monday in two separate matters before the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court, both raising concerns over the Board’s handling of Class XII examinations and results.
The Delhi High Court issued notice to the Union government and CBSE on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the Board’s newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for Class XII examinations.
A Division Bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Madhu Jain sought responses from the Department of Education and CBSE and listed the matter for hearing on June 12.
The petition, filed by National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) President Vinod Jhakhar, seeks an independent inquiry into alleged irregularities in the digital evaluation process. It claims that after results were declared, students across the country reported issues such as blurred scans, missing pages, incomplete uploads, answer-sheet mismatches, unexpectedly low marks and the absence of an effective verification mechanism.
During the hearing, CBSE’s standing counsel M A Niyazi questioned the maintainability of the PIL, stating, “It is a student wing of a political party. We do not want education to be politicised like this.”
The petition argues that the large number of students seeking scanned copies of their answer books reflects widespread distrust in the evaluation process. “When such a large number of students seek scanned copies immediately after result declaration, the matter cannot be treated as a routine post-result formality,” it states.
Among other reliefs, the PIL seeks reopening of the verification portal for a month, manual rechecking in disputed cases and an independent inquiry into the functioning of the OSM system.
SC seeks response
The Supreme Court sought responses from CBSE on a petition filed by a student from Saudi Arabia whose Class XII improvement examination result has been withheld following the cancellation of several CBSE board examinations across West Asian countries amid regional tensions.
A vacation Bench of Justice Manmohan and Justice Vijay Bishnoi issued notice to CBSE and its regional officer and posted the matter for further hearing on Friday.
Expressing concern over the impact on the student’s academic future, Justice Manmohan remarked, “This is about the career of a child, he will miss all his admissions… Whatever it is, burn the midnight oil.”
