SC asks govt to respond to PIL challenging CBSE OSM evaluation

The Supreme Court on Aug 21 sought the Union government’s response to a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) on-screen marking (OSM) system for evaluating answer sheets.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked the Union government to place its response and relevant records before the court. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought time until Aug 24 to file the response after consulting the government.

During the hearing, Mehta said around 1.68 lakh students had used the complaint window opened by CBSE, following which their answer sheets were re-evaluated.

Mehta said he had prepared a note on the matter and would submit the Union government’s position through an affidavit on Aug 24. He requested additional time to place the response before the court.

The Solicitor General informed the court that CBSE had constituted a one-member committee to examine complaints concerning the evaluation process. Students were given one week to submit their grievances.

The petitioner’s lawyer, however, told the court that several students continued to face difficulties with their CBSE results.

The lawyer said some students had cleared entrance examinations but faced admission-related problems after failing to secure the minimum marks required in their CBSE results.

The petitioner has sought reopening of the complaint window so that students who could not raise concerns during the earlier period can submit their grievances over the evaluation of their answer sheets.

The hearing also considered the impact of CBSE results on entrance examinations and admissions. Mehta said CBSE marks are linked to various entrance examinations and admission processes, which cannot be postponed indefinitely.

He cited examinations such as JEE Main while explaining the need to maintain existing examination and admission schedules despite concerns raised over the evaluation system.