SC to hear on May 31 plea to cancel class 12 board exams due to COVID

New Delhi, May 28 (PTI): The Supreme Court Friday said it would hear on May 31 a plea seeking directions to cancel the class 12 exams of the CBSE and Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) amidst the surge in COVID-19 cases across the country.
The plea, which also sought directions to devise an “objective methodology” to declare the result of class 12 within a specific time frame, came up for hearing before a bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari.
At the outset, the bench asked petitioner Mamta Sharma whether she has served the copy of the plea to the advocate representing the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
When the petitioner said she will serve the copy of the plea to the parties, the bench observed, You do it. We will have it on Monday (May 31) .
We permit the petitioner-in-person to serve advance copy on the standing counsel for the respondent(s), namely, central agency, CBSE, ICSE and also the office of the Attorney General for India, the bench said in its order, adding, List this matter on Monday, i.e. May 31, 2021 at 11 AM.
The petition has arrayed the Centre, the CBSE and the CISCE as respondents in the matter.
During the hearing conducted through video-conferencing, Justice Maheshwari observed that the CBSE is likely to take a call on the issue on June 1.
The counsel representing the CISCE told the bench that since the apex court is hearing the matter, the high courts should not deal with it.
Nothing will happen till Monday, the bench said.
When the petitioner told the bench that the top court can take suo motu cognisance on the issue, the bench said, Be optimistic. May be by Monday, some resolution will be there. Let us have it on Monday . The CBSE had on April 14 announced cancellation of class 10 exams and postponement of class 12 exams in view of the surge in coronavirus cases.
The Ministry of Education had recently sought detailed suggestions from the states and Union Territories till May 25 on the proposals discussed in a high-level meeting held on the issue.
The CBSE has proposed conducting the exams between July 15-August 26 and the result to be declared in September.
The board also proposed two options: conducting regular exams for 19 major subjects at notified centres or conducting shorter duration exams at respective schools where students are enrolled.
The plea filed in the apex court has contended that due to the unprecedented health emergency and surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, it is not possible to conduct the examination and any further delay would cause irreparable loss to the future of students.