The CBSE exams started late at few centres in the national capital today as many of them expressed inability to follow the new “leak-proof” system put in place for the first time after question papers for two subjects were leaked. (IE)

Central Board of Secondary Education(CBSE) on Tuesday announced that there will no re-examination of class 10 Maths paper in Delhi NCR and Haryana. Anil Swarup, Secretary, HRD Ministry while talking about the same said, “Consequent to the preliminary evaluation of the impact of reportedly leaked CBSE class 10 maths paper and keeping in mind the paramount interest of students, CBSE has decided not to conduct re-examination even in the states of Delhi NCR and Haryana.”

The HRD Ministry had last week announced that it will conduct the re-examination Class 10 mathematics re-test, if required, which would be conducted only for Delhi-NCR and Haryana in July. However, it had released the date for CBSE Class 12 economics paper that would be held on April 25. The Delhi High Court on Monday had asked the CBSE about its plans, to re-conduct the class 10 Maths test. The counsel, representing Kerala-based 15-year-old Rohan Mathew, sought urgent hearing of the plea by the top court challenging the decision to re-conduct the examination Mathew and two others have moved the top court seeking quashing of the CBSE’s decision to re-conduct the Class 10 Mathematics examination on several grounds including violation of their fundamental rights.

The CBSE exams started late yesterday at few centres in the national capital as many of them expressed inability to follow the new “leak-proof” system put in place for the first time after question papers for two subjects were leaked. Meanwhile, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) also postponed class 12 and class 10 examinations scheduled to be held in Punjab at the request of the state government in view of ‘Bharat bandh’ called by several Dalit organisations against the “dilution” of the SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Following the leaks of Economics and Mathematics question papers, the CBSE had announced that the examination centres would henceforth receive an encrypted copy of the question papers on e-mail and they would need to download and print themselves.

The schools were to receive an e-mail link of the question papers, log in using passwords sent for the purpose, and then print over 2,000 sheets of paper until 10:15 AM — 15 minutes before the exam — under surveillance. The process, however, was delayed in some schools. “We have contacted all regional offices to take account of the situation. In any case, it is a standard procedure that if the exam starts late, students will be given that amount of time to finish it to ensure there is no loss,” a senior CBSE official said. The HRD Ministry also advised students and parents not to rely on rumours and to report to the CBSE if they come across any “hoax leaked papers” floated on social media. The CBSE had already issued public notices alerting about fake question papers of Hindi Elective, Sanskrit and Political Science, which were circulating on social media, saying they were indicating “hoax leaks”.

The CBSE later in the day issued a statement saying at some centres, the exams were delayed by a few minutes to half an hour due to the bandh. However, the students were facilitated to reach the exam centres and also given additional time to complete the exam without any inconvenience or anxiety, as per standard procedures, it said. “Amid an atmosphere charged with rumour mongering, the exams went off without a hitch. CBSE would like to thank all its stakeholders, children, parents and schools for their extreme cooperation and for not giving heed to rumours,” the statement said.

While the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notice to HRD secretary, CBSE chairperson and Delhi Police chief seeking report in four weeks, the apex court agreed to hear a batch of petitions challenging the CBSE’s decision to re-conduct Mathematics and the Economics examination for Class 10 and 12 respectively after the question papers were allegedly leaked. In a separate petition, the Delhi High Court asked the CBSE about its plans, if any, to re-conduct the class 10 Maths test the question papers for which had been leaked recently.

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 Maths and Economics question papers of class 10 and 12, respectively. The HRD Ministry had last week announced that the re-examination of the CBSE Class 12 economics paper would be held on April 25, while the Class 10 mathematics re-test, if required, would be conducted only for Delhi-NCR and Haryana in July. The announcement had come after the board received complaints that the question papers for the two subjects were leaked.

CBSE question papers might have been leaked in Haryana: Delhi Police

The Delhi Police are suspecting that the CBSE question papers might have been leaked from neighbouring Haryana, a senior official privy to the probe said today. The police were investigating whether some schools in Sonepat, Jhajjar and Bahadurgarh were also involved in the leak of Class 10 mathematics paper and Class 12 economics paper of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), he said. “We are probing that angle. It is suspected that some schools and even some CBSE official might be involved in the matter. But we cannot say anything with surety at the moment,” the official said. “The papers were mostly circulated in outer Delhi and areas bordering Haryana. This indicated that the origin of the leak might be in Haryana or there was some collusion from there,” he said. Three persons, including two teachers of a private school at Bawana in outer Delhi, were arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch for their suspected roles in leakage of the Class 12 economics paper.

The arrested persons were identified as Rishabh (29) and Rohit (26) both teachers at the private school, and Tauqeer (26), a tutor at a private coaching centre. The Delhi Police has lodged two cases over the leaks of the CBSE question papers. The first case related to the leak of economics question paper was lodged on March 27, while the other pertaining to the leak of mathematics paper was lodged on March 28, following a complaint by the CBSE’s regional director. The examinations for the class 10 Mathematics and class 12 Economic papers were held on March 28 and March 26 respectively.

(With inputs from agencies)