Having taken a serious view on the paper leaks, the Delhi High Court on Monday sought the stand of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Central Government on a plea for court-monitored probe into the paper leak case. It also asked CBSE about its plans, if any, to re-conduct the class 10 Mathematics test the question papers for which had been leaked recently.
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar sought information on possible re-examination for the class 10 Mathematics paper after CBSE said it was still ascertaining the extent of the leak before announcing the date for the fresh test.
The court asked the CBSE to take a decision on the issue and inform it by April 16, saying that even class X is crucial for the students as they decide on the basis of their results what streams of studies to take up for classes XI and XII.
The court put the query to the CBSE while issuing notices to the CBSE and the Centre seeking their stands on a plea for a court monitored probe into the recent leaks of the Mathematics and Economics question papers of class X and XII, respectively. During the brief hearing, the bench asked the CBSE as to how could it wait till July to re-conduct the test and keep the students on “tenterhooks” till then. The court observed that it would not only waste an academic year of the students, but would also be akin to keeping “a sword hanging over their heads.”
The CBSE said no decision has been taken regarding class X Mathematics re-examination as it was ascertaining if the leak was pan-India or confined to Delhi and Haryana alone The CBSE has already decided to re-conduct the Class 12 Economics examination on April 25.
The PIl was mentioned today before the bench which had agreed to hear it. The petition by NGO Social Jurist has sought that the class X Mathematics exam be held in April, instead of in July as proposed by the authorities.