Delhi HC seeks CBSE reply on OSM plea
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
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 exams.Issuing notice on a PIL petition by the 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.Also read: IIT panel approves new CBSE portal for re-evaluation after security reviewThe 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.
He also objected to the maintainability of 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.What is OSM and what went wrongCBSE introduced on-screen marking for the evaluation of Class 12 answer books beginning with the 2026 examination cycle, describing it as part of its continuous effort to enhance efficiency and transparency. Under the system, physical exam papers are scanned, digitally masked to hide students' identities, and evaluated by teachers on a computer screen.However, the rollout has run into significant controversy. Thousands of students across the country reported issues including blurred scans, missing pages, mismatched answer sheets, incomplete uploads and unexpectedly low marks following the declaration of Class 12 results.CBSE declared the Class 12 results on May 13, with the overall pass percentage dropping to 85.20%, down from 88.39% last year.
Reports also indicated a decline in the number of students scoring 90% and above.What NSUI is seekingThe PIL, filed through NSUI president Vinod Jhakhar and advocate Rishav Ranjan, seeks a direction to reopen the verification portal for one month, permit manual rechecking and physical verification of answer sheets in disputed cases, and order an independent inquiry into the alleged irregularities. It also seeks direct oversight by the Union Government and calls for proper safeguards and guidelines to be framed for future digital evaluation systems.Also read: Who is Dharmendra Pradhan? All about Education minister facing heat in CJP protest amid NEET, CBSE controversyNSUI has argued that the lack of a robust corrective mechanism heightens the prejudice to students because the academic calendar continues to move forward while the disputes remain unresolved.The Delhi Government School Teachers' Association (GSTA) had urged CBSE to hold implementation of the OSM system for the 2026 evaluation cycle, citing concerns that the majority of teachers had not been provided with structured and certified training for the digital system.
The BriefWire