The Supreme Court, on June 17, will hear a petition that seeks the cancellation of all state board Class X and Class XII examinations, owing to the second wave of the pandemic. The hearing is based on the Intervention Application filed by a Delhi-based parent activist Sukhpal Singh Toor through advocate Mamta Sharma, on a previous petition filed by another lawyer Anubha Shrivastava Sahai.
Sharma had, earlier, filed a petition seeking cancellation of the CBSE's Class XII examination. At the same time, three IAs have been filed until now on Sahai's petition. The petition will be heard by a bench of justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari. Notably, the same bench had heard Sharma's CBSE petition and had assured her of a positive response.
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The IA seeks cancellation of all state board examination, similar to how the CBSE and the ICSE did, exercising Article 142 judicial activism. The petition also says that a further delay in examination and evaluation will cause hindrance for students opting to study abroad.
"Whilst the CBSE and many state boards have cancelled the Class 12 board exams, many states like Assam, Tripura, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh are yet to cancel the exams. The Assam government is likely to conduct its exams in August," said Toor. He added that he will soon write to Smriti Irani, Union Cabinet Minister for Child and Women Development, and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights to intervene immediately.
