Supreme Court dismisses plea against offline Board exams for classes X, XII

Let students do their job and authorities do theirs, says court

The Bench said there are rules and regulations in place to deal with the conduct of exams in the pandemic situation. File

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea to persuade authorities from holding physical exams for classes 10 and 12 in 2022 because of the pandemic.

A Bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar termed the petition “ill-advised” and “premature”.

"Let students do their job and authorities do theirs... What kind of a petition is this? This will only create confusion," Justice Khanwilkar addressed advocate Prashant Padmanabhan, appearing for the petitioner, Anubha Shrivastava Sahai.

Mr. Padmanabhan said the apex court had cancelled the physical exams last year and directed the authorities to devise an alternate assessment mechanism. The danger of a spike in cases has not passed yet though the COVID–19 situation has improved, he argued. He urged the court to pass similar orders like last year.

”The past cannot be the basis for passing orders in the present. We know we had passed orders, but that was reflective of the situation then and not now,” Justice Khanwilkar responded.

The Bench said there are rules and regulations in place to deal with the conduct of exams in the pandemic situation.

"They are working on it. But you have filed your PIL even before they have taken a decision..." Justice Khanwilkar said.

The court said once the authorities take a decision on the conduct of exams, it was for the students, and not others, to seek relief in case they have a grievance.

"But you cannot come here even before authorities take a decision," Justice Khanwilkar told the petitioner side.

Mr. Padmanabhan said the classes were not conducted properly and were mostly online. He also said some States have elections.

"Do you think the authorities do not know? They are more aware than you are about all that," Justice Khanwilkar reacted.

The petition had challenged the conduct of physical exams by the CBSE, the ICSE and the State boards. The CBSE has decided to conduct term two board exams for class 10 and class 12 from April 26.

The petition had also sought the setting up of a committee to finalise the formula for assessment of marks of class 12 students, fix a timeline for declaration of the results and declare the date for admission into various universities.