Supreme Court to hear petition seeking cancellation of Class 12 board exams tomorrow

 

The Supreme Court will hear a petition seeking cancellation of Class 12 board examinations amid present COVID-19 situation on Friday.

The Supreme Court will hear a petition seeking cancellation of Class 12 board examinations amid present COVID-19 situation on Friday. The plea, to be heard by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, requests the court to pass a direction to the CBSE, CISCE and government to devise an "objective methodology" to declare the result of Class 12 students within a specific timeframe.

"More than 12 lakh students of Class 12 under CBSE are left in a perplexed situation due to the postponement of their examination. Considering the present situation wherein approximately 4 lakh cases of Covid with more than 3,500 reported deaths daily, it cannot be anticipated when the situation would be under control to conduct examination of Class 12 via physical mode," the petition says.

"In view of the unprecedented health emergency and rising Covid cases, the conduct of examination (either offline/online/blended) in upcoming weeks is not possible and delay in examination will cause irreparable loss to the students as time is the essence in taking admission in higher education courses in foreign universities," it further mentions.

"Major prayer seeks to cancel Class 12 examinations. I will try for passing of uniform directions in the interest of all students across the nation," advocate Mamta Sharma, who will appear for students, told India TV.

The chief of the India Wide Parents' Association, who has been representing students on various issues, also hoped for a decision in students' favour. 

"I wish SC will give justice to students but in education related matters they have often refused to interfere in policy decision and left it for the govt to decide. It happened in many cases last year and this year too. So all depends on what decision govt takes. So just hoping that govt takes a good decision in favour of students," Anubha Shrivastava Sahai told India TV. 

Meanwhile, a group of 297 students on Tuesday submitted a letter petition to Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana urging him to take suo-motu cognisance and quash any decision of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to hold physical examination. It requested the CJI to direct the evaluation of Class 12 students on the basis of alternative modes or online exams so as to do "complete, equal and fair justice" to the students and "exclude possibility of discrimination, disadvantage and risk of life."

Earlier on Sunday, the government held a national consultation with states wherein proposals on Class 12 board exams were discussed. The meeting chaired by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had a reached a consensus on the conduction of exams. However, more suggestions were sought from states and a decision will be made by June 1.