The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Centre on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) on-screen marking (OSM) evaluation system. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked the Centre to present its response and the relevant records before the court in the matter.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that around 1.68 lakh students had applied through the complaint window opened by CBSE, and their answer sheets were re-evaluated.
Mehta said he had prepared a note on the matter and wanted to present the government's response before the court through an affidavit on Monday after discussing it with the government. He sought time until Monday to file the response.
One-member panel examined complaints
The Solicitor General informed the court that a one-member committee had been constituted to examine complaints related to the evaluation process. Students were given a one-week window to submit their complaints.
However, the lawyer appearing for the petitioner said that several students were still facing difficulties. The lawyer told the court that some students had cleared entrance examinations but faced problems because they did not secure the minimum marks required in their CBSE results.
On this basis, the petitioner sought the reopening of the complaint window. The plea seeks an opportunity for students who could not use the earlier window to raise concerns about the evaluation of their answer sheets.
JEE Main, other entrance exams also discussed
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said CBSE marks are linked to other entrance examinations and admissions, and such examinations cannot be postponed indefinitely. He cited examinations such as JEE Main as an example.