When will Class X Maths re-exam be held: Delhi High Court to CBSE

The Delhi High Court asked the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Monday about its plans, if any, to re-conduct the Class X Mathematics examination, 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 paper after CBSE said it is still ascertaining the extent of the leak before announcing the date for the fresh test.

The court put the query to the secondary and higher secondary education regulator 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 Classes 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 Mathematics re-examination as it was ascertaining if the leak was pan-India or confined to Delhi and Haryana alone.

The court subsequently 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 CBSE has already decided to re-conduct the Class XII Economics examination on April 25.

The PIL was mentioned before the bench on Monday, which had agreed to hear it.

The petition by NGO Social Jurist has sought that the Class X Maths exam be held in April, instead of July as proposed by the authorities. The petition by advocate Ashok Agarwal has also prayed for a direction to the CBSE to award liberals marks to the students in the Mathematics and Economics re-examinations.