SC to hear pleas against CBSE re-test on Wednesday

New Delhi :  The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday petitions challenging the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) March 28 decision to re-conduct the maths exam for Class 10 after its question paper was leaked.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, on Monday said the matter will be taken up on April 4 after it was mentioned for urgent hearing.

Besides challenging the re-conduct of the exam, the petitioners have sought a probe into the leak and declaration of results on the basis of the exams already conducted.

The government on March 30 announced the re-examination will be held for Class 12 economics paper throughout the country on April 25 while a fresh test for Class 10 maths paper will be held only in Delhi, NCR and Haryana in July.

Kerala student Rohan Mathew and two others moved the Supreme Court seeking quashing of the CBSE decision to re-conduct the Class 10 mathematics examination.

A student of Choice School in Kochi, Mathew contended that the decision to re-conduct the exam was arbitrary, illegal and violative of the Constitution’s Article 14 (equality before law), Article 21 (right to life and liberty) and 21A (right to education).

Mathew, represented by his father Santhosh Mathew – a practicing lawyer of the Kerala High Court, also sought stringent action against the erring officials of the CBSE for “jeopardising the career of nearly 16 lakh students who appeared for the exam”.

Questioning the CBSE decision to cancel the exam and re-conduct it “merely based on unconfirmed apprehension that the question paper has been leaked in Delhi”, he has said unless there is evidence for “widespread and systemic leaking of papers, cancellation of examination of this magnitude is not the solution”.

IANS