The Delhi High Court has declined to pass any urgent directions for reopening the CBSE verification and re-evaluation portal in a petition alleging large-scale irregularities in the Board’s On-Screen (OS) Marking System for Class XII examinations.
A Vacation Bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna and Justice Madhu Jain was hearing a writ petition filed by the National Students Union of India (NSUI), which sought intervention over alleged technical glitches and deficiencies in the digital evaluation process adopted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
The petitioner contended that serious concerns had emerged regarding the fairness, transparency and reliability of the evaluation process, affecting the academic future of thousands of students across the country. It was submitted that CBSE itself had acknowledged technical issues in the portal used for providing scanned copies of answer sheets and that more than 1.27 lakh applications relating to nearly 3.87 lakh answer books had been received within a short span of time.
According to the plea, the large number of applications reflected widespread concern among students regarding the functioning of the evaluation system. The petitioner further pointed out that CBSE had repeatedly extended the timelines for obtaining scanned copies of answer sheets, allegedly indicating systemic deficiencies in the process.
NSUI sought directions to keep the verification and re-evaluation portal open for a further period of one month, permit manual rechecking and physical verification of answer sheets where students disputed the correctness of scanned copies, and order an independent inquiry into the alleged irregularities associated with the OS Marking System. The petition also sought compensatory marks for students whose answer sheets were allegedly affected by scanning defects, mismatches or evaluation errors.
Opposing the plea, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union of India, submitted that CBSE had already provided adequate opportunities to students. He informed the Court that the portal for obtaining scanned copies had remained open from May 19 to May 25, 2026, during which nearly four lakh students had applied. He further stated that the re-evaluation window was opened from June 2 to June 6 and was subsequently extended till June 7. Approximately 3.8 lakh answer sheets had already been submitted for re-evaluation.
The respondents argued that reopening the process at this stage could adversely affect nearly 17.8 lakh students who had appeared for the examinations and could delay the finalisation of results. It was also submitted that individual grievances raised by students had been addressed by the Board.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner requested that the matter be placed before the appropriate roster bench. Accepting the request, the Court observed that students aggrieved by individual issues were at liberty to approach the appropriate forum for relief.
Without granting any interim directions, the Bench directed that the matter be listed before the roster bench on July 6, 2026, for further consideration.
