By Suchitra K MohantyNew Delhi [India], June 19 (ANI): As many as 1,152 students knocked the doors of the Supreme Court by filing a joint petition, seeking direction to the CBSE for cancellation of CBSE's Class XII private compartment examination, and demanded parity with regular students.

The private, compartment students of CBSE Class XII examination have moved the Supreme Court seeking directions for cancellation of their examinations in physical mode and for their performance evaluation by adopting a formula in line with the assessment formula adopted by CBSE for the regular students and to release the results in a time-bound manner, the petition said.

The Supreme Court is likely to hear the batch of petitions on June 21, Monday.

The relief has been sought through an application, supported by more than 1,152 students and filed by advocate Abhishek Choudhary, and Manju Jaitley, seeking intervention and direction in the writ petition filed earlier before the Apex Court for cancellation of CBSE/ ICSE Board Examinations, the petition said.

The batch of petitions filed before the Supreme Court, a copy of which was accessed by ANI, sought direction to the respondent, CBSE, to arrive at a formula for performance evaluation of the Class XII private / compartment students in line with the assessment formula adopted by CBSE and other Education Boards for the regular students and to release the results in a time-bound manner.

The petitions sought to direct the CBSE to allow Class X and XII private/compartment students to file their objections within a reasonable period of time, in case they are not satisfied with the results so publishedThe petitioners also sought a direction to the CBSE to resolve the grievances/objections that would be raised, giving them fair and equal treatment with that of regular students, the petition said.

On June 03, 2021, the Supreme Court had directed the CBSE to devise and place on record a well-defined objective criteria for assessment of performance of the candidates within two weeks from the date of the order, the petition said.

Clause 29 of the "Policy for Tabulation of Marks for Class XII Board Examinations 2021" proposed and placed on record by the CBSE before the Court, specified the examination will be conducted for Private/ Patrachar / 2nd chance Compartment candidates etc., by the board as and when the conditions become conducive for conduct of such examinations, the petition said.

"Owing to the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country, it cannot be conclusively said as to when exactly we will be able to have such conducive environment necessary for the conduct of physical mode examinations," the petition said.

The applicants have submitted that, "if their examinations are delayed beyond reasonable time till a conducive environment is achieved in order to conduct the examination, they will not only lose opportunity to apply and seek admission in these Universities / Colleges, but they will also be denied their fundamental right to education."The application has also highlighted the dual and arbitrary approach taken by the CBSE in giving unequal treatments to the Private / Patrachar, 2nd chance Compartment candidates of Class X and XII, the petition claimed and added that earlier, the CBSE declared that for Class X a separate scheme for the assessment will be announced soon for Private/Patrachar/2nd chance Compartment candidates.

The applicants have also said, in their petition, that, "the decision to conduct private/ compartment examination of Class XII CBSE candidates would endanger the lives of lakhs of students, who would be forced to appear in this physical-mode-board examination, which would clearly violate their 'right to life and health' as guaranteed by Article 21 of our Constitution".

The present situation is not conducive for conducting any type of physical mode examination, for any class of students. No one can say the exact date when the situation would be conducive, and, therefore, we have approached the Supreme Court seeking appropriate relief in the interest of the students, said the petitions filed before the Supreme Court. (ANI)