The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the Central government on a plea to allow students to use calculators in Class XII board examinations.

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma directed the authorities to file their response in six weeks.

The petition has been filed by Vishal Dua, a Pitampura resident, on behalf of himself and 10 other parents. They argue that students appearing for subjects such as Mathematics and Accountancy are forced to spend considerable examination time performing lengthy calculations manually, leaving them with less time to demonstrate their conceptual understanding.

It points out that CBSE's own Curriculum Committee had approved the use of basic calculators in Class XII Accountancy examinations during its 70th meeting held on November 25 and 26, 2024. The recommendation was subsequently placed before the Board's Governing Body in December 2024 but has not been implemented, the plea states.

"The Petitioner has made every possible effort to find out whether this proposal has since been finally notified or implemented but no such information is available anywhere in the public domain. The plain fact is that CBSE's own Curriculum Committee has already approved this change in writing, in its own official record in November 2024 and this record was placed before CBSE's own Governing Body in December 2024, and CBSE has simply not bothered to notify or implement a decision that its own Committee has already taken, for nearly two years now," the plea states.

The parents have argued that CBSE's failure to act on its committee's recommendation amounts to arbitrary action under Article 14 of the Constitution.

Further, the plea points out that examination boards such as CISCE, Cambridge IGCSE and the International Baccalaureate permit calculator use under regulated conditions.

The PIL has been filed through advocate Nitin Mangla.