Delhi HC seeks centre, CBSE reply on plea alleging irregularities in Class 12 OSM system

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought the stand of the Centre and the CBSE on a petition by Congress party's student wing seeking an independent inquiry into the alleged large-scale irregularities in the on-screen marking (OSM) system for Class 12 exam. Issuing notice on a PIL petition by the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), a vacation bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Madhu Jain asked the central government and CBSE to file their responses and listed the matter for hearing on June 12.

The petitioner submitted that the CBSE closed the portal for verifying and revaluing answer sheets last night and requested a direction to keep it open for affected students for one month. Counsel for CBSE, advocate M A Niyaz, submitted that the authorities extended the deadline for closing the portal from time to time, and the education board was duly addressing the grievances of aggrieved students.

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He also objected to the maintainability of the NSUI to file the PIL, emphasising that it was a student wing of a political party. "We don't want education to be politicised like this," the counsel submitted. The NSUI counsel said that it filed the PIL on behalf of minors and that association with a political party was not a disqualification. The PIL, filed through advocate Rishav Ranjan, also seeks manual rechecking and physical verification of answer sheets of aggrieved students.

In the petition, the NSUI has said the sharp decline in overall performance in this year's Class 12 results has led to widespread concern among students and parents regarding the fairness, consistency and reliability of the OSM system, especially in the light of several requests for scanned answer books and complaints on discrepancies and technical issues acknowledged by the CBSE.