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NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Monday issued notice to the Centre and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), seeking their response to a plea alleging discrepancies in the board’s On-Screen Marking (OSM) system used during the post-result verification and re-evaluation process.The development comes amid an ongoing controversy over CBSE’s digital evaluation system, after several Class 12 students claimed that scanned copies of their answer sheets uploaded by the board did not match their handwriting, raising concerns about possible mismatches and marking irregularities.The plea was filed by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), which sought directions to CBSE to award compensatory marks in cases where OSM copies were unreadable, improperly marked or contained discrepancies. It also requested that the board keep the re-evaluation portal open for another month.During the hearing, counsel appearing for CBSE told the court that the board was already addressing students’ grievances and that affected candidates could approach CBSE directly with their concerns.After hearing the matter, the high court issued notices to the Centre and CBSE and listed the case for further hearing on June 12. Meanwhile, CBSE defended its post-result services process and said the re-evaluation system functioned smoothly during the notified application period.In a post on X, the board said: “The Application Window for Verification and Re-evaluation remained fully functional throughout the notified period from 2 June 2026 to 7 June 2026 under the supervision and management of government technical agencies and teams from the IITs.” CBSE said more than 1.6 lakh candidates successfully submitted requests covering over 3.8 lakh answer books during the application period.The board further stated that the portal remained under continuous monitoring by cyber security teams to prevent malicious traffic and cyber threats and that dedicated support was provided to students through helpdesks and grievance redressal channels.Addressing complaints regarding the message ‘Roll Number Not Found’ on the portal, CBSE said: “To clarify doubts of some of these students and parents, it is informed that the message ‘Roll Number Not Found’ is displayed when a candidate had not successfully applied during the first phase of the Post-Result Services process, namely the Answer Books Photocopy Application Window.”The board added that only students who had applied for scanned copies of their answer books during the first stage were eligible to seek verification and re-evaluation in the subsequent phase.The case comes against the backdrop of a wider controversy surrounding the OSM system and its implementation. Hyderabad-based Coempt Edutek Pvt Ltd, which handles the scanning and digital evaluation process for CBSE, has come under scrutiny after students raised concerns about answer-sheet mismatches.The issue intensified after procurement records showed that Coempt Edutek secured the contract for CBSE’s fully digitised evaluation system, covering nearly 99 lakh Class 12 answer books, after edging past larger competitors during the tender process.Amid the controversy, CBSE shifted answer-sheet data from Coempt’s servers to its own servers as a precautionary measure against potential cyber threats and data breaches. The board, however, has denied allegations of any irregularities in the procurement process or the evaluation system.Separately, CBSE also filed a complaint with the Intelligence Fusion & Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police, alleging that its re-evaluation portal was targeted by repeated cyberattacks during the application window. Authorities later said preliminary investigations found no evidence of any data breach.
