CBSE Board Exams 2026: NHRC says withholding admit cards over fee dispute ‘illegal’, violates RTE Act

CBSE Board Exams 2026: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has declared it “per se illegal” for a Delhi school to withhold CBSE board examination 2026 admit cards over a fee dispute, after complaints that three students of Apeejay School, Saket, New Delhi, were threatened with denial of hall tickets unless a raised fee amount was paid. The CBSE 2026 exams started today for both Classes 10 and 12.
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The matter surfaced days before the start of the CBSE Class 10 and 12 board examinations, triggering protests, legal complaints, and intervention from authorities.

CBSE Board Exams: 3 students ‘singled out’

According to the complaint placed before the Commission, two Class 10 students — Arshia Chaudhary and Shreyansh Awasthi — and one Class 12 student — Amishi Rawat — were allegedly denied entry into the school campus on February 14 and 16.

Parents alleged that the school demanded payment of an enhanced or “raised” fee and linked the issuance of admit cards to clearance of those dues. They maintained that they were willing to pay the actual fee but disputed the enhanced component. The CBSE board examinations 2026 were scheduled to begin on February 17, raising fears of irreparable academic loss.

On February 15, the situation at Apeejay School, Saket, escalated into a full-blown public crisis as parents, led by the Naya Samaj parents association, were forced to take to the streets after “feeling abandoned by the educational bureaucracy”.

Before the NHRC's decisive intervention, the school gates became a flashpoint for frustration, with families and activists alleging that students were “being held hostage”. This mass protest signaled a complete breakdown in trust, as the association argued that the fundamental right to education was being traded for unauthorised fee hikes in Delhi schools.

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Critics and members of the association said that both Department of Education and the CBSE appeared powerless while students were barred from campus just days before their boards. The crisis has notably "exposed" the Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation of Fees) Act, 2025, which protesters claim failed to provide the very protection it was designed to ensure. By allowing the dispute to reach the point of denying admit cards, the legislative framework was labeled a total failure in real-time practice.

CBSE 2026: NHRC orders rapid fact-finding

Taking cognisance of the complaint, the NHRC on February 13 directed its director general (Investigation), through the Rapid Action Cell, to collect facts within 24 hours and seek an Action Taken Report from the concerned authorities within three days.

The investigation division spoke to all parents involved as well as school authorities. NHRC observed that the admit cards had already been duly issued by CBSE in the names of the students and were in the custody of the school.

“The denial of the admit cards duly issued by the CBSE in the name of the students is per se illegal and contrary to the law,” the commission stated.

It held that withholding such admit cards amounts to violation of the Right to Education and that disputes regarding payment of enhanced school fees cannot be a ground to prevent students from appearing in board examinations.

The NHRC directed the director of the Directorate of Education, GNCTD, and the chairman of CBSE to immediately intervene and ensure issuance of the admit cards without fail. A response was sought the same day.

CBSE Board Exams: Admit cards issued after intervention

Advocate Shikha Sharma Bagga, director of the Forum for Indian Parents and a Supreme Court lawyer, said, “It is a matter of national shame that minor children are being harassed for unlawful demand of fees and neither the school nor the government or any authority seems to have any concern for their future. Creating last-minute stress for children appearing in board examinations is unethical and amounts to cruelty, even if the demand is genuine.

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“The school had given an undertaking before the High Court in 2020 that it would not charge hiked fees, at a time when directions were reportedly issued by the then Chief Secretary, GNCTD, to register an FIR and consider sealing the school. What ethics can be expected from such a management if it is now demanding almost double the amount mentioned in that undertaking?”

She alleged that similar tactics have been used repeatedly and that matters concerning the school are pending before the Supreme Court, the High Court and the Children’s Court at Saket, adding that even the 2025 fee regulation law has failed to protect students despite penalty provisions.

She further questioned the role of authorities, stating, “CBSE has already received examination fees from parents and all eligibility criteria have been fulfilled. Why are admit cards not sent directly to students or uploaded online for download like results?.”

On the evening of February 16, Delhi minister Ashish Sood reportedly called the parents to his office for discussions. Shortly thereafter, the affected students of Apeejay School received their admit cards.

Now parents demand that an FIR be immediately registered against the school management and that strict penalties be imposed for the alleged harassment of students.