Supreme Court seeks CBSE’s response on plea over withheld result of student based in Saudi Arabia

Published 8 June 2026 · education

The Supreme Court on Monday (June 8, 2026) sought a response from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on a plea filed by a

The Supreme Court on Monday (June 8, 2026) sought a response from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on a plea filed by a Class 12 student from Saudi Arabia seeking directions to the Board to declare the results of his improvement examination. A Bench of Justices Manmohan and Vijay Bishnoi was hearing a petition filed by Class 12 student Pransu Jigarkumar Patel, who had appeared as a private candidate for the 2026 Class 12 improvement examinations in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English, and Computer Science, in Saudi Arabia. However, after the CBSE cancelled certain Class 12 examinations in several West Asian countries on March 15 amid the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict, he was able to appear only for the Physics and Chemistry papers. The CBSE subsequently issued a notification titled ‘Assessment Scheme for Declaration of Results of Class XII in West Asian Countries’ on March 27 to facilitate the declaration of results for students affected by the cancellations.

Under the scheme, marks for the cancelled papers were to be derived from school assessments, including the “best of the three marks obtained in quarterly, half-yearly and pre-board examinations”. The Board declared the results on May 13. However, Mr. Patel claims that his results were withheld and that his status was reflected as “RL [Result Later]”. At the outset of the hearing, the counsel appearing for the CBSE sought time until June 15, saying “CBSE is already overworked”. However, the Bench refused to budge and proceeded to issue notice on the plea and fixed the matter for hearing on June 12. Expressing concern that any delay in declaring the result could adversely affect the student’s higher education prospects, the Bench observed, “This is about the career of a child, he will miss all his admissions.

Whatever it is, burn the midnight oil.” Patel’s counsel also told the Bench that the Board had not clarified whether the assessment scheme would apply to students appearing for improvement examinations as private candidates. In his plea, Mr. Patel, who studied at the International Indian School in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, stated that his academic records were available with the school and could have been relied upon for assessment under the CBSE scheme. Observing that the student’s prior records could be considered in making the assessment, the Bench instructed the Board’s counsel to seek instructions and posted the matter for hearing on June 12. In his plea, Mr. Patel said that the non-declaration of his results had placed his higher education plans in jeopardy and amounted to a violation of his constitutional guarantees. The plea alleged that he was being subjected to “hostile discrimination” despite being similarly situated to other students affected by the cancellation of examinations in West Asian countries.