New Delhi, June 12 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to issue any urgent directions to reopen the CBSE’s digital portal for the revaluation of answer sheets of aggrieved Class 12 students.

A vacation bench comprising Justice Neena Bansal Krishna and Justice Madhu Jain observed orally that reopening the portal at this stage may impact the future admissions process for 17 lakh students.

The bench said aggrieved students or their parents were free to approach the court for redressal.

Earlier, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the Centre, said that 1.67 lakh students have filed revaluation applications on the portal.

He said there is no scope for filing new applications at this time. If the portal is opened now, the college admission counselling of students who have already filed applications will be affected, said Mehta.

On June 8, the High Court issued notices to the Centre and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the National Students’ Union of India, the student wing of the Congress.

The petition raised concerns about the newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system for evaluating Class 12 board examination answer sheets.

The PIL questioned the fairness, transparency and reliability of the digital evaluation mechanism adopted by the CBSE, alleging that thousands of students across the country faced issues such as blurred scans, missing pages, mismatched answer sheets, incomplete uploads and unexpectedly low marks following the declaration of Class 12 results.

The OSM system is a digital evaluation process under which physical answer sheets are scanned, digitally masked to conceal students’ identities and assessed by examiners on computer screens.

Filed through NSUI President Vinod Jakhar, the petition contended that Class 12 board examination marks have a direct bearing on admissions to universities and professional institutions, scholarship opportunities and future academic prospects.

“Class 12 board marks are not only a record of academic performance. They determine admission to universities, professional colleges, scholarship opportunities, entrance eligibility and the overall academic future of students,” the plea stated.

According to the petition, the concerns raised are not isolated instances but reflect a systemic issue affecting lakhs of students who appeared for examinations under the newly introduced digital assessment framework.

–IANS

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