Supreme Court Closes CBSE Result Case After Policy Fix for Gulf Students

SC closes plea on withheld CBSE result after Centre issues fresh policy for Gulf-based private students

New Delhi, June 22

A bench of Justices S.V.N. Bhatti and Vipul M. Pancholi took on record the policy notified on June 21 and the statement made by Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta that the petitioner's result had already been declared and communicated to him.

The matter arose out of a petition filed by Pransu Jigarkumar Patel, a CBSE Class 12 Improvement Examination candidate from Al Jubail in Saudi Arabia, who had approached the top court seeking the declaration of his result after it was withheld despite a special assessment scheme framed for students affected by examination cancellations in West Asian countries.

During the hearing, SG Mehta, appearing for the Union government, informed the Justice Bhatti-led Bench that CBSE examinations had been cancelled across seven Gulf countries, affecting two categories of students -- regular school candidates and private candidates.

The Centre's second-highest law officer submitted that while regular students could be assessed under the existing evaluation framework based on school records, private candidates faced a distinct difficulty as they had no school to provide internal assessment data, such as quarterly, half-yearly and pre-board examination marks, which formed the basis of the assessment scheme issued on March 27.

To address this gap, the Centre framed a separate formula for private candidates under the newly notified policy.

According to the policy, for subjects in which examinations were cancelled, marks would be calculated by assigning 40 per cent weightage to theory marks obtained in the Class 10 Board examination, and 60 per cent weightage to theory marks secured in the Class 12 Board examination.

SG Mehta further informed the Supreme Court that the petitioner's result, computed under the new formula, reflected marks higher than his earlier performance. He added that the result had been communicated to the student through email and would also be updated on DigiLocker.

The policy also provides an option for students dissatisfied with the assessed marks to appear in the next regular examination.

Counsel for the petitioner acknowledged that the result had been declared but requested the apex court to protect the student's right to obtain copies of answer scripts and seek re-evaluation in accordance with CBSE rules. However, the Justice Bhatti-led Bench observed that such reliefs were not part of the original prayers sought in the writ petition.

Disposing of the plea, the Supreme Court clarified that if the petitioner had any surviving grievance, he would be at liberty to pursue appropriate remedies in accordance with law.

The litigation stemmed from the cancellation of several CBSE examinations, including mathematics, English and computer science, in parts of the Gulf region due to war-related tensions and security concerns. While the CBSE had announced an assessment scheme for affected students, the petitioner's result remained withheld because he appeared as a private candidate and lacked the school-based assessment records required under the original framework.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had issued notice to the CBSE and its Regional Officer in Dubai after the petitioner argued that the continued withholding of his result had jeopardised his admission prospects for a B.Tech programme and violated his rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The petition, filed through advocate Vineet Jindal, had sought directions to the CBSE to declare the result under the assessment scheme applicable to West Asian countries or, alternatively, conduct a special examination for the cancelled subjects.

— IANS