Amid growing controversies around India’s education system and inconsistencies in the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) On-screen Marking (OSM), a fresh row has emerged and evolved into legal action, reaching the Supreme Court (SC) of India. An Indian-origin student residing in Saudi Arabia alleged that he was issued a marksheet by the board which did not mention subject-wise marks after the exam results were declared. The petition is scheduled to be heard by India’s top court on Monday and has cast the spotlight again on complaints regarding result-related discrepancies faced by CBSE’s private candidates, particularly those residing overseas. 

Advocate Vineet Jindal, representing the complainant student, said the plea had been filed before the SC and was listed for hearing.

Student claims marksheet was devoid of subject-wise scores

As per the petition, the student received a marksheet after the announcement of results, but the document reportedly did not mention the marks obtained in individual subjects. 

His family added to the allegations, saying the issue is not an isolated one. The plea claims that several other private candidates attached to CBSE-affiliated schools, including students based outside India, have either not received their results or have encountered discrepancies in the documents issued to them.

Following this, concerns have gripped parents and students who rely on timely and accurate academic records for higher education admissions and other academic requirements. 

Delhi student echoed similar concerns earlier

The latest petition comes in the backdrop of a similar controversy involving a Class 12 student from Delhi, named Tanishq Vats, who had earlier alleged irregularities in the documents issued after the declaration of CBSE exam results. 

His father Sachin Vats said he initially received a marksheet which did not display subject-wise marks despite securing an overall score of 81%. His family claimed the omission caused considerable anxiety and prompted multiple visits to the school, as well as repeated conversations with CBSE officials seeking clarification.

Documents cited by the Vats family suggested the original marksheet contained subject codes, subject names and positional grades for certain subjects. It also carried the notation ‘RL’ (Result Later), suggesting that the result was under process and awaiting finalisation. 

Fresh issues crop up during re-evaluation process

Although Vats later received a corrected marksheet, the family alleged that further complications arose during the re-evaluation process. They claimed that while scanned copies of answer sheets were requested for six subjects, they ended up receiving only five of them, as the Biology answer sheet was missing. The family contended that this limited their ability to seek re-evaluation across all subjects within the prescribed deadline. 

Following complaints and the issues raised by the media, CBSE said the matter had been resolved. The board confirmed that the missing Bio answer sheet had subsequently been provided and that the corrected marksheet had already been issued to the student.