Delhi HC asks CBSE and Centre for views on court-monitored probe

The Delhi High Court Monday sought responses from the Centre and the CBSE on a plea seeking a court-monitored probe into the recent Class X and Class XII question papers leak case even as the Supreme Court agreed to hear a batch of petitions challenging the CBSE’s decision to re-conduct examinations.

A bench of Delhi Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar also issued notices to the Ministry of Human Resource Development and the CBSE, asking them to submit their status report within 10 days and clear their position on whether the Class X math examination would be held again. The CBSE had earlier announced that the Class XII economics re-examination would be held on April 25.

The bench also directed the Delhi Police to apprise it of the investigation they have carried so far into the matter on the next date of hearing, April 16. The court issued the directions on a plea by an NGO, Social Jurist, which sought a court-monitored probe into the recent leaks.

Advocate Ashok Agarwal, appearing for the NGO, urged the Delhi High Court that the Class X mathematics examination be held in April rather than July as proposed by the authorities, as students have to apply for different courses in India and abroad. In his submission, he also proposed the awarding of grace marks to students in both papers. The petitioner also submitted that differently abled students would suffer the most.

In the Supreme Court on Monday, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said since many petitions have been filed on the same issue, it would list them all for hearing on April 4. Petitioners Anasuya Thomas and Gayatri Thomas, aged 15, are students of an East Delhi school and have, in their petition, moved through their father Jomy Thomas, questioned the CBSE’s decision to conduct the re-test in July. (Disclosure: The children’s mother, Liz Mathew, is Associate Editor at The Indian Express).

In their petition filed by advocate Pallavi Pratap, the two students sought the setting aside of the CBSE decision on March 30 to conduct the re-examination of Class X mathematics and to restrict it to only Delhi NCR and Haryana merely based on initial inquiries that the question paper leak was restricted to these areas.
News Source (Indian Express)