SC dismisses petitions against cancellation of Class XII exams

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 22

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed petitions challenging the decisions of the CBSE and the ICSE to cancel Class XII examinations and go for separate formulae for evaluation of students, saying it’s a well-informed decision taken at the highest level to protect interests of over 20 lakh students.

“We hold that there is no need to interfere with the scheme propounded by CBSE and ICSE. It takes into account concerns of all students,” said a Bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar.

Rejecting all petitions challenging the decision by CBSE & ICSE against conducting Class XII board exams, it affirmed the assessment schemes and timeline for optional examinations between August 15 and September 15.

The Bench also gave its final approval to the evaluation formulae proposed by the two boards to evaluate Class XII students after cancellation of their examinations.

Attorney General KK Venugopal assured the top court that the UGC will instruct colleges to take into account the schedule and complete the process of admission after declaration of results by all boards.

“We find force in the submission made by Attorney General that the scheme has been formulated by an expert body consisting of 12 members,” it said.

“Boards have taken the decision to cancel the examinations which is in larger public interest. Accordingly, the writ petition deserves to be dismissed…,” the Bench said.

The Bench rejected arguments of senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing a parent body, that the scheme should provide an option to appear for improvisation at the initial stage itself and results of internal assessment should be declared together.

“After hearing the views of Attorney General, we are of the view that this suggestion can’t be taken forward. This would result in denial of option to students and would result in uncertainty until the examinations of improvisation are conducted and results are declared,” it said.

“Individual perception will not decide this case. Decision based on larger interest has to be taken, there are logistical issues and issues with teachers and support staff,” noted the Bench which also included Justice Maheshwari.

The Bench asked the Andhra Pradesh government to inform it by June 24 its decision regarding holding Class 12 examinations in the state.

“If there is one fatality, we will make the state responsible’,” it told the counsel representing Andhra Pradesh.

Ending uncertainty over the method of calculating marks/grades of Class XII students following cancellation of their examinations due to Covid-19, the top court on June 17 accepted the formulae of CBSE and ISCE to evaluate them and publish their results by July 31.

According to the scheme, Class X, XI and XII marks will be considered in 30:30:40 ratio to prepare the final results of Class XII students of CBSE and results would be declared by July 31. The marks in best of three subjects would be considered for the purpose for Class X, XI and XII.

However, the ICSE proposed a different set of criteria to compute marks based on performance of students in the last six years and declare results by July 20.

As some students and parents’ bodies questioned the decision to cancel the Class XII examinations and the evaluation formulae to declare results of students, the top court had on Monday asked the CBSE and the ICSE to respond to their pleas, saying it’s important to have finality in the matter

“For students…they need to have some ray of hope, not uncertainty” it had said, adding, “The decision for cancellation of examination has been taken at the highest level and we have in-principle accepted it.”

Demanding physical examinations, UP parents’ association had assailed the different sets of criteria adopted for evaluation of students by the CBSE and the ICSE, saying there should be uniformity in the criteria of both the boards.

Marking should be based on the performance of the current batch and not on any previous batch and the option to improvise the results must be given at the outset before the declaration of results, Singh had said, terming the policy as “irrational” and “complex”.