A plea seeking cancellation of offline Board examinations for students of Classes X and XII to be conducted by several boards, including CBSE, has been dismissed by the Supreme Court. The court said that such petitions offer "false hope" and also lead to "confusion" among students who are appearing for these examinations.
The apex court also observed that the petition is ill-advised and premature and that the concerned authorities are yet to arrive at a decision when it comes to conducting examinations of the various boards. They said that if the decision is wrong, then it can be challenged and that pre-empting is not the way to go. This was informed by the bench, headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar and comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar, to the lawyer who was appearing for the petitioners.
When the counsel who was appearing on behalf of the petitioners shared that state boards are yet to announce exam dates, the bench observed that when it's due, the dates will be announced.
At the outset, the counsel for petitioners, AS Sahai and others, had also referred to the order which was passed by the court last year with regards to conducting Board exams in the times of COVID-19. The bench asserted that what happened in the past cannot be the basis on which the order is passed in the present. They asked the counsel to let the authorities decide.
The counsel also argued that CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education), who conducted first-term Board exams in December 2021 in the offline mode, is yet to declare the results. Result declaration is important as it is creating uncertainty among the students and the MBBS admissions for 2021 is not yet complete, he said. The bench mentioned that all aspects will be looked into by the authorities and the petitioners can make representation there.
When the counsel proceeded to share that he would restrict it to two prayers only, the bench said they will not be issuing any directions and that the authorities are doing their jobs. Then when it was put forth that conduction of classes is not happening appropriately, the bench said that authorities are very well aware of the fact and are monitoring it.
The counsel then argued that since the dates of Boards has not been declared, it would delay admissions. Who are you to decide that? Who are you and who are we to decide those dates? They know the ground realities. They have to make logistical arrangements. They will take overall view of the situation and then take a decision, the bench said, as quoted by a report in PTI.
The counsel requested that the petition should be kept pending and the bench observed that they plan on dismissing it at any cost. It also expressed its displeasure against such misleading petitions.
When the plea was mentioned before the bench on Tuesday, February 22 for urgent listing, it said that the matter will be heard on Wednesday, February 23.
