SC to hear plea seeking cancellation of class 12 exams on May 31

The petition has arrayed the Centre, the CBSE and the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination as respondents in the matter

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider on May 31 a plea to cancel Class XII examinations of CBSE and ICSE due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, saying the issue was under consideration of the government and some resolution might come by then.

The court also sought to know the stand of the Centre on the next date of hearing.

After a brief hearing on a plea by advocate Mamta Sharma, a bench Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said, "Please be optimistic. There may be some resolution by Monday."

The court also asked the petitioner to serve copies of the plea on the two boards as well as the office of Attorney General, saying they should be represented on Monday. It has yet not issued any notice in the matter.

Also read: NSUI stages protest at Ministry of Education, demands Class 12 board exams be cancelled

The bench said that it will wait to see if any decision is taken by the Centre in the meantime, even as it noted that the CBSE would announce the schedule for the board exams on Tuesday, June 1.

Sharma, in her plea, asked the court to issue directions to the boards to cancel the Class XII examinations, and devise an objective methodology to declare the result within a specific time frame.

“The Covid-19 situation is more severe in comparison to last year and requires the respondents to adopt the same criteria of assessing the grading/marks of class XII students as done in the last year," she said.

Also Read | Covid-19: Majority states favour shorter duration for Class 12 board exams, a few want students vaccinated

Her plea sought quashing of notifications issued by CBSE and ICSE deferring the exams to an unspecified date, saying students cannot be subjected to suffer uncertainty amid an unprecedented public health crisis.

The court may exercise its power under Article 142 of the Constitution to direct the boards to implement the methodology, adopted for Class X, to declare the Class XII result after cancelling the examinations, it pleaded.

Following the pandemic last year, the court had asked the boards to determine and declare Class 12 exam results on the basis of previous assessment of students.