Centre considers relief policy for CBSE students affected by West Asia conflict

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that it was contemplating to bring out a policy to accommodate private students from West Asia whose exam results could not be declared by the CBSE due to the prevailing war situation in the region. A partial working day bench comprising justices Augustine George Masih and Vijay Bisnoi was apprised by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, that the government is considering to come out with a decision shortly.

"This is a wider issue, the government is considering laying down some policy for similarly situated students," the law officer said. The bench then deferred the hearing to June 22 on the plea filed by Pranshu Jigarkumar Patel, an overseas student from Saudi Arabia. He has sought directions to the CBSE to declare his class 12 improvement examination result.

The plea challenged CBSE's failure to declare his result despite an assessment scheme framed for students whose examinations in several Gulf countries were cancelled because of the prevailing security situation in the region. The CBSE declared class 12 results on May 13 and the petition said that Patel's result was not declared and his status was shown as "RL (Result Later)".

Also read Kerala govt postpones KEAM 2026 counselling result due to CBSE Class 12 On-Screen Marking mismatch

Patel said that no clarification was provided on whether private candidates appearing for improvement examinations are covered by the assessment scheme. The plea said private candidates affected by the cancellation of examinations in West Asian countries are entitled to the benefit of CBSE's special assessment scheme. Earlier, the Delhi High Court had refused to entertain the plea.

The plea contended that the non-declaration of his result has jeopardised his higher education prospects and deprived him of admission opportunities. The petition stated that Patel appeared as a private candidate in the CBSE class 12 improvement examination, 2026, from Al Jubail in Saudi Arabia in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English and Computer Science.

Patel claimed that his representations sent to the CBSE on May 17, May 21 and May 30 seeking a resolution of the issue went unanswered. The CBSE cancelled the Class 12 board examinations in seven Middle Eastern countries (Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE) due to escalating tensions amid the Iran-Israel-US conflict.