Shweta Tambade
Delhi High Court criticized the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for its “anti-student attitude”. The Delhi HC said that it was “treating students as enemies” by dragging them all the way to the Supreme Court in certain matters.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan observed so while hearing a plea filed by the Board challenging a single judge order, which said the CBSE’s reassessment scheme for students whose board exams got cancelled due to COVID-19 would apply to improvement candidates also.
The bench said, “We don’t like this anti-student attitude of the CBSE. You are dragging students all the way to the Supreme Court. Should they be studying or going to court? We should start imposing costs on the CBSE. They are treating students as enemies”.
The bench further said that “if the scheme applies to all improvement students, what is the harm in it?”
On August 14, the single-judge had held that the scheme approved by the Supreme Court for assessing students due to cancellation of the CBSE exams in light of COVID-19 will also apply to students, who appeared for improvement examinations as being equal victims of the pandemic.
“There is no earthshaking emergency for you to come to court now all guns blazing,” the bench said, adding that the CBSE should have gone to the apex court for a clarification, instead of dragging students to court.
The single judge had said that like regular students, those who appeared for improvement exams would also be able to avail the scores as per the assessment scheme or appear for the optional examination whenever it is scheduled by the CBSE.
The August 14 order had come on a plea by a student, Sanyam Gupta who appeared in the CBSE class 12th exams that were held in February-March 2019 and secured 95.25 per cent.
The student wishing to improve his score, dropped one year and decided to reappear in Accountancy, English Core, Economics and Business Studies for an improvement examination this year.
Sanyam sought that his result for the improvement examinations ought to be declared and in respect of the cancelled paper of Business Studies, he should be treated equally with the regular students for whom an assessment scheme was approved by the Supreme Court.
The High Court instructed the CBSE to issue a corrected mark sheet to the student.
After implementing the August 14 order and issuing a corrected marksheet to Gupta who, thereafter, got admitted in a Delhi University college on the basis of the same, the CBSE has now challenged the single judge’s decision.
Taking note of the facts and circumstances, the bench said, “The impugned order has been implemented. The child has taken admission. Why should we upset the applicant now?”
When the CBSE counsel argued that the improvement candidates were getting more chances under the reassessment scheme as compared to regular students.
The bench replying to it said, it should have brought this to the attention of the apex court when the scheme was being approved.
The High Court, nevertheless, issued a notice to the student and sought his reply to the CBSE’s plea.
“We will put you to an exam now,” the bench said to the CBSE.
The matter has now been listed for hearing on February 5, 2021.