Delhi High Court issues notice in NSUI petition over CBSE on-screen marking discrepancies

New Delhi, June 12: The Delhi High Court vacation bench on Friday refused to give any direction for the reopening of the revaluation portal of CBSE. The matter has been listed before for the roster bench in July.Bench hearing and submissionsDivision bench of justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Madhu Jain refused to pass any direction after hearing the submissions made by Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta.SG Tushar Mehta argued that 1.27 lakh aggrieved students have approached through the CBSE portal. There are 3.86 lakh copies of these students being looked into.It was also submitted that the revaluation was opened twice, and aggrieved students have approached for the revaluation."If the direction is passed for reopening of the revaluation portal, it will affect more than 70 lakh students who appeared in the exam, as it will delay their admission process/chances in undergraduate courses," SG Mehta said.Petitioner’s plea for reopeningThe counsel for petitioner NSUI urged the court to direct the reopening of the revaluation portal for three days and submitted that not all the students will be affected if the revaluation portal is open, as only the aggrieved students will file their applications.The NSUI had approached the High Court through a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking direction for compensatory marks and reopening of the revaluation portal for one month.On June 8, the Delhi High Court sought a response from the Central Government and CBSE on the plea highlighting a discrepancy in marking in the CBSE examination through the On-Screen Marking (OSM) mode.The counsel for CBSE had submitted that the petition is not maintainable as the petitioner is a student wing of a political party.Representation and arguments by NSUIAdvocate Mohd Ali Khan along with Rishav Ranjan appeared for the petitioner and submitted that NSUI is a student organisation of 55 years, and students are minors, which is why it is raising the issue.The petitioner had said that they would address the objection raised by the CBSE.During the hearing, the counsel for the CBSE submitted that CBSE is addressing the grievances of students, and affected students can write to the CBSE.The petitioner NSUI has sought directions to CBSE to give compensatory marks where OSM copies are not readable, not properly marked, etc. It is praying for keeping the revaluation portal open for the next month.Revaluation and verification requestsThe petitioner has prayed for directing the reopening of the portal for verification and permitting manual rechecking and physical verification of the answer sheets of affected students, pending disposal of the writ petition.It has also sought a direction to initiate appropriate proceedings against the company responsible for the large-scale irregularities in the On-Screen Marking System.Concerns about examination fairnessThe petition has raised concerns about the fairness, transparency and reliability of a national examination process, which has a direct bearing on the future of students. Class XII board marks are not only a record of academic performance.They determine admission to universities, professional colleges, scholarship opportunities, entrance eligibility and the overall academic future of students. Any error, delay or inconsistency in the evaluation process has immediate consequences which cannot be adequately repaired later. The harm is not abstract. It is concrete, continuing and irreversible in many cases, the plea added.Issues with the OSM systemThe petition raised concerns regarding the implementation of the OSM system by the CBSE. The system was introduced as a digital method of scanning and evaluating answer books.The petitioner has stated that after the result declaration, large numbers of students, parents and teachers across the country raised concerns regarding blurred scans, missing pages, incomplete uploads, mismatch of answer sheets, unexpectedly low marks and lack of a meaningful mechanism for manual verification. The concern was not confined to a small set of students. It became a nationwide issue because the digital system itself was being questioned by the very persons it was meant to serve.It is also said that the CBSE itself acknowledged, through its own public communications, that the portal for obtaining scanned copies of answer books suffered technical glitches and that a very large number of applications, approximately 1,27,146 applications concerning 3,87,399 scanned answer books, had been submitted in a very short time.Also Watch: Delhi HC Seeks Response From Centre & CBSE Over Alleged Discrepancies In On-Screen Marking SystemThe petitioner submitted that this figure reflects an extraordinary level of concern and lack of confidence amongst students regarding the process. When such a large number of students seek scanned copies immediately after the result declaration, the matter cannot be treated as a routine post-result formality.(Disclaimer: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)

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 National 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 association had suggested the system be run only as a pilot on a limited scale during the 2026 session.With inputs from PTI

The Delhi High Court has issued notices to the Centre and CBSE regarding discrepancies in the board's On-Screen Marking system. This follows student allegations of handwriting mismatches in scanned answer sheets, raising concerns about marking irregularities. The court will hear the case on June 12.

The NSUI has petitioned the Delhi High Court for an independent inquiry into alleged irregularities in CBSE's on-screen marking system for class 12 exams, seeking manual rechecking of answer scripts due to systemic flaws which they claim are affecting students' futures.

NSUI petitions Delhi High Court for an independent inquiry into CBSE’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system amid widespread student concerns

NSUI has moved the Delhi High Court alleging major flaws in CBSE’s On-Screen Marking system, seeking an inquiry, rechecking and relief for affected Class 12 students.