CBSE Exam | 'This Is About Child's Career' : Supreme Court Seeks CBSE Response On Gulf Student's Plea To Declare Class XII Improvement Result

The Supreme Court today(May 8) issued notice in a writ petition filed by an overseas student from Saudi Arabia, who sought directions to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to declare his Class XII Improvement Examination result. The matter will be taken up on Friday.

The petition filed by Pransu Jigarkumar Patel challenges CBSE's failure to declare his result despite an assessment scheme framed for students whose examinations in several Gulf countries were cancelled because of the prevailing security situation in the region. CBSE declared Class XII results on May 13, 2026, and the petition states that Patel's result was not declared and his status was shown as “R.L. (Result Later)”.

The petition states that no clarification has been provided on whether private candidates appearing for improvement examinations are covered by the assessment scheme. He has contended that private candidates affected by the cancellation of examinations in West Asian countries due to war-related tensions are entitled to the benefit of CBSE's special assessment scheme. He had approached the Delhi High Court, which refused to entertain his plea.

A vacation bench comprising Justice Manmohan and Justice Vijay Bishnoi issued notice to the CBSE and its Regional Officer.  At the outset, when the matter was taken up, Justice Manmohan told the counsel for the petitioner that the matter should have been moved before the Delhi High Court.

CBSE's counsel informed the Court that the assessment of the student was supposed to be done by the School, but since the student is a private student, the assessment is not available.

Justice Manmohan responded that his past records may be considered and asked the CBSE's counsel to get instructions by this Friday. To this, the Counsel responded that the CBSE is working on it and requested that time till Monday be given: "CBSE is already overworked."

"This is about the career of a child, he will miss all his admissions...Whatever it is, burn the midnight oil," Justice Manmohan countered.

As per the petition, Patel appeared as a private candidate in the 2026 Class XII Improvement Examination from Al Jubail in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He had registered for improvement in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English and Computer Science after appearing in the Class XII examination in 2025.

CBSE cancelled several Class XII examinations in Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE after war-related tensions and military hostilities made it infeasible to conduct them.

As a result, Patel was able to take only the Physics and Chemistry examinations, while the Mathematics, English and Computer Science examinations were cancelled.

CBSE then issued a notification on March 27, 2026, laying down an “Assessment Scheme for Declaration of Results of Class XII in West Asian Countries”.

The scheme covered students whose examinations remained pending because of the cancellations. Under the scheme, students with pending examinations were to be assessed on the basis of school records. For subjects carrying 80 or 70 theory marks, schools were required to provide students' performance in quarterly examinations, half-yearly examinations and final pre-board examinations, with the best of the three scores being considered for the final result.

The scheme also provided that students dissatisfied with the assessment could be given a fresh opportunity to take examinations in the affected subjects if circumstances permitted. Mathematics, English Core and Computer Science were specifically listed by CBSE as examinations that had not been conducted in the affected countries.

The petition states that the petitioner studied at the International Indian School, Al Jubail, and records of his quarterly, half-yearly and pre-board examinations are available with the school and can be used for assessment under the scheme.