The Supreme Court has opted not to instruct the reopening of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 examination re-evaluation portal. This decision affects students who have raised concerns regarding the evaluation of their answer sheets using the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system. The bench, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, determined that reopening the portal could potentially lead to a flood of new claims.
During the hearing, CJI Kant remarked, “If you don’t use the bus, you miss the bus,” highlighting the need for students to have utilized the open window for applications. The court was considering a petition that challenged the OSM system’s implementation. The petition emphasized that the digital scanning system was first introduced in 2026 without prior formal training for teachers, leading to several alleged irregularities. These included issues such as unscanned answer sheets, illegible scans, and non-evaluation of some answers, resulting in arbitrary evaluations.
Previously, on August 14, the Court had urged CBSE to consider measures to assist students facing challenges in entrance-based admissions due to low scores. However, during the latest hearing, the petitioner’s counsel requested an additional week for the re-evaluation application period. The counsel argued that technical issues, such as website crashes, prevented some students from applying for on-screen verification.
Despite these arguments, CJI Kant reiterated that the re-evaluation window had been sufficiently accessible. “Why should we direct them to open this window again for you? If you don’t use the bus, you miss the bus. The window was open for everyone for a specified period,” he stated.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta supported the Court’s decision, noting that 1.68 lakh students successfully applied within the original timeframe. Furthermore, he referenced a similar case previously dismissed by the Delhi High Court.
The Court concluded that reopening the portal was unnecessary, given the concluded admissions process. “Today you are asking us to reopen it. Tomorrow it will lead to revival of claims by thousands, even lakhs. The difficulty is that admissions are already over,” the Bench observed.
