Judge recuses from hearing plea on rationale document for CBSE Class 10 results

The plea, which was filed by ‘Justice for All’ called for the publishing of the rationale document to bring transparency, and also to enable students to access the assessment criteria of the CBSE Class 10 results and raise grievances with the board well in time

Delhi high court judge C Harishankar on Monday recused himself from hearing a petition seeking to direct all schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to publish the rationale document for devised criteria for the assessment of students of Class 10 on their respective websites, before calculating the result and uploading the same on the CBSE portal.

Owing to the current Covid-19 situation, both CBSE Class 10 and 12 exams have been cancelled and a separate evaluation criteria was later framed by the Board. ( Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)

According to news agency ANI, when the matter, which was scheduled to be heard by the division bench of Justice C Harishankar and Justice Subramonian Prasad on Monday, came to judge C Harishankar, he said, “I can’t hear this matter” and posted the same for June 30.

Justice Harishankar further asked the petitioner to approach the Chief Justice for listing the matter before another bench.

Notably, the plea was filed by ‘Justice for All’ through advocates Shikha Sharma Bagga and Khagesh B Jha. It called for the publishing of the rationale document to bring transparency, and also to allow students to access the assessment criteria and raise grievances with the board well in time, ANI reported.

The petition has been moved in an ongoing Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in which the court had issued notice to CBSE and the Centre. The PIL has sought direction for modification in policy for the tabulation of marks for Class 10 board exams based on the internal assessment conducted by the school.

Meanwhile, union education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal recently said on a live video chat that students who are dissatisfied with their Class 10 and12 results can appear for physical exams that would likely be conducted in August if the situation is favourable.

The CBSE had cancelled Class 10 and 12 board exams in view of rising Covid-19 cases in the country. The separate evaluation criteria that the Board framed was given a nod by the Supreme Court on June 18, for Class 12.

The CBSE Class 10 results will be calculated for a total of 100 marks, with 80 marks based on the performance of students on exams conducted by their schools throughout the year, and the remaining 20 marks based on their internal assessment.