SC asks Centre to provide ‘tangible' reason to conduct Class XII exams

The bench was dealing with a petition filed by advocate Mamta Sharma seeking cancellation of exams and evaluation of students on basis of internal assessment

A member of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) stages a protest outside the MHRD office in New Delhi on May 28 demanding the cancellation of board exams: PTI

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Legal Correspondent   |   TT  |  New Delhi   |  01.06.21: The Supreme Court on Monday said the Centre must give a “tangible” reason if it decides to go ahead with the Class XII board examinations amid the pandemic.

“No issue. We do not want to get into the nitty-gritty at this stage. You take a decision. You are entitled to it. But it is the sanguine hope of the petitioners that last year’s policy could be used this year. If you are departing from the policy of last year, you need to give us tangible reasons,” Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, heading a bench, told attorney-general K.K. Venugopal during a brief hearing.

The bench, also comprising Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, adjourned the matter till Thursday on a request from Venugopal to place the government’s final view.

The bench was dealing with a petition filed by advocate Mamta Sharma seeking cancellation of the Class XII board exams and evaluation of the students on the basis of the internal assessment marks obtained, as was done last year.

Besides Sharma, the NGO Youth Bar Association has filed an intervention application seeking cancellation of the exams, arguing that holding the tests would be in contradiction with the CBSE’s own decision not to conduct the Class X exams owing to the second wave of Covid-19.

In the case of Class X students, the CBSE had decided to evaluate their performance on the basis of the internal assessment marks as was done last year when the first wave of Covid was raging.

The petitioner has complained that though the CBSE and the ICSE chose to cancel the Class X exams this year too, no such benefit has been extended to the Class XII students, which amounts to discrimination and violation of citizens’ fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 (equality), 15 (non-discrimination) and 21 (life and personal liberty).

The petitioner has pleaded that the court must exercise its special powers under Article 142 to cancel the exams keeping in view the health and safety of the students and others since the second wave has been more devastating than the first wave was last year.

It was pointed out that last year, upon the court’s intervention, both the CBSE and the ICSE chose to cancel the board exams and relied on internal assessment for determination of the final results.