The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the central government and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to submit their positions on a petition filed by the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress party. The petition demands an independent investigation into what it describes as large-scale irregularities in the on-screen marking (OSM) system used for Class 12 examinations.
A vacation bench comprising Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Madhu Jain issued notice on the public interest litigation (PIL) and scheduled the next hearing for June 12. The court directed both the Centre and CBSE to file their responses before that date.
The petitioner argued that CBSE closed the portal for verification and revaluation of answer sheets on the night before the hearing. The NSUI sought a court direction to keep the portal open for one additional month so that affected students could access it.
CBSE counsel M A Niyaz informed the bench that the board had already extended the portal deadline multiple times and was addressing grievances of affected students. He also questioned the maintainability of the PIL, noting that the NSUI is a student wing of a political party. “We don't want education to be politicised like this,” the counsel submitted.
In response, the NSUI's counsel argued that the petition was filed on behalf of minors and that association with a political party does not disqualify the organisation from seeking judicial remedy. The PIL, filed through advocate Rishav Ranjan, also requests manual rechecking and physical verification of answer sheets for aggrieved students.
The petition states that the sharp decline in overall performance in this year's Class 12 results has caused widespread concern among students and parents. It questions the fairness, consistency, and reliability of the OSM system, especially in light of several requests for scanned answer books and complaints about discrepancies and technical issues that CBSE has acknowledged.
The court has not yet issued any interim order on keeping the portal open. The matter will be heard again on June 12, giving both parties time to file their detailed responses.
