AG’S help sought on plea to cancel Class 12 exams

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the assistance of the Attorney General to decide a plea to scrap Class 12 board examinations, and told the petitioner Mamta Sharma to be optimistic as the Centre, which is expected to decide on this issue by Tuesday, could pass a resolution in her favour.

The bench posted the matter for Monday and directed a copy of the petition to be given to the central government, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), and Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE). It also directed the petition to be supplied to office of the Attorney General for India.

The bench asked the petitioner why an advance copy was not served to the Centre or CBSE. On Friday, as the bench took up the matter for the first time, it found only CISCE being represented in court by senior advocate

NEW DELHI:

JK Das.

Initially, one of the justices was of the view that the matter could be heard on Tuesday, coinciding with the Centre’s decision on holding the Class 12 examinations in the wake of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the bench decided to keep the matter on Monday.

The petitioner sought a notice to be issued on her petition as several high courts were also being approached on the same issue. The bench told Sharma, “Be optimistic. May be there is a resolution in your favour.”

Sharma appealed to cancel the Class 12 board examinations, saying students should not be made to suffer amidst an unprecedented public health crisis arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On April 14, CBSE issued notification cancelling Class 10 examinations, and postponing public examination for Class 12. Similar notifications were issued by CISCE on April 16 and 19.