NSUI moves Delhi High Court over CBSE OSM row, seeks independent probe into evaluation system

The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) has approached the Delhi High Court seeking an independent inquiry into the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) On-Screen Marking (OSM) system, alleging large-scale irregularities in the evaluation process for Class 12 board examinations.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed through NSUI president Vinod Jakhar, claims that the newly introduced digital evaluation system has been plagued by technical issues and grievance-redressal failures, affecting lakhs of students across the country.

According to the petition, the OSM system was introduced as a digital mechanism for scanning and evaluating answer books. However, after the declaration of results, students, parents and teachers allegedly reported problems including blurred scans, missing pages, incomplete uploads, answer-sheet mismatches, unexpectedly low marks and the absence of an effective verification mechanism.

NSUI has argued that the existing grievance process provides only limited digital remedies and does not offer meaningful opportunities for manual verification or independent rechecking of disputed answer books. The petition contends that this has left many students without an effective avenue to challenge potential errors in evaluation.

The student body has sought directions to reopen the verification portal for an additional month and allow manual rechecking and physical verification in cases where students dispute the correctness of scanned answer sheets or the evaluation process.

The PIL also calls for direct oversight by the Union government and an independent inquiry into the alleged irregularities, along with safeguards and guidelines for future digital evaluation systems.

NSUI argued that the issue goes beyond routine post-result grievances because Class 12 marks play a crucial role in university admissions, scholarships and professional course applications.

The petition states that the large number of students seeking access to scanned answer sheets reflects a significant lack of confidence in the evaluation process.

The court move comes amid growing controversy surrounding the OSM system. In recent days, NSUI has staged protests outside CBSE headquarters, demanding greater transparency in the evaluation process and raising concerns about the impact of alleged discrepancies on students' academic futures.

The OSM row has also acquired political overtones, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking an independent judicial inquiry into the evaluation system and questioning the tender process related to the digital assessment platform.

CBSE has denied allegations of irregularities and has maintained that the OSM platform is secure and that due process was followed in awarding contracts related to the system.

The matter is expected to come up before the Delhi High Court, where NSUI is seeking urgent intervention given the ongoing admission season and the potential impact of disputed results on students' higher education prospects.