SC seeks CBSE response on undeclared result of Saudi-based Class 12 student

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition filed by a Class 12 student in Saudi Arabia seeking directions to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to declare his improvement examination result, which he says has put his higher education plans at risk.

A bench of Justices Manmohan and Vijay Bishnoi on June 8 issued a notice to the CBSE and its regional office and asked the Board to obtain instructions on the matter. The court observed that the issue could have serious consequences for the student's academic future and admission prospects.

“This is about the career of a child, he will miss all his admissions… Whatever it is, burn the midnight oil,” the bench remarked during the hearing.

The petition was filed by Pransu Jigarkumar Patel, who appeared as a private candidate in the CBSE Class 12 Improvement Examination 2026 from Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. He took examinations in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English, and Computer Science.

According to the plea, CBSE has not declared his result despite introducing a special assessment mechanism for students affected by the cancellation of board examinations in several Gulf countries earlier this year. Patel contended that the delay has jeopardized his chances of securing admission to higher education institutions.

The petition also stated that representations sent to CBSE on May 17, May 21, and May 30 seeking resolution of the issue did not receive any response.

The matter comes amid broader concerns over result-related discrepancies reported by some CBSE private candidates studying abroad.

Another petition before the Supreme Court involves an Indian student residing in Saudi Arabia who allegedly received a CBSE marksheet without subject-wise marks despite the declaration of results.

The petition states the marksheet lacked individual subject scores, and the family claimed similar issues affected other private candidates, including students studying overseas, whose results were undeclared or had discrepancies.

Questions over post-result services had also surfaced recently in a separate case involving a Delhi-based Class 12 student.

The student initially received a marksheet that reportedly did not display subject-wise marks despite securing 81% in the examination. The family later raised concerns regarding delays in obtaining a scanned copy of one answer sheet during the re-evaluation process.

CBSE subsequently stated that the issue had been resolved, confirming that the missing answer sheet had been provided and that a corrected marksheet had already been issued.

The dispute traces its origins to the disruption of CBSE board examinations across seven West Asian countries amid the Iran-Israel-US conflict earlier this year.

As tensions escalated in the region, CBSE canceled Class 10 and Class 12 examinations in Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The board examinations had commenced on Feb 17. However, following the outbreak of hostilities, CBSE first postponed examinations scheduled from March 2 onward in the affected countries before canceling all remaining Class 10 examinations on March 5 and the remaining Class 12 examinations on March 15.

Around 52,000 students were registered for CBSE board examinations across the seven countries, including nearly 29,000 Class 10 students and about 23,000 Class 12 students. The UAE accounted for the highest number of candidates, followed by Kuwait and Bahrain.

To address the disruption, CBSE introduced a special assessment scheme and allowed affected students to appear in the subsequent improvement examination cycle. The Board had stated that students covered under the arrangement would be treated on par with candidates who had completed all their examinations.

CBSE also clarified that students unable to appear for certain subjects because of the conflict would be permitted to take those papers during the improvement examination session, subject to eligibility requirements.

The Supreme Court will now consider Patel's plea seeking a declaration of his results under the special framework announced by CBSE for students affected by the cancellation of examinations in the Gulf region.