Overseas student moves Supreme Court after CBSE withholds Class 12 improvement result over cancelled Gulf exams

A class 12 student who appeared for Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) improvement exams from Saudi Arabia has moved the Supreme Court challenging a delay in declaring his results.

The plea has been filed by Pransu Jigarkumar Patel, a private candidate who appeared for the CBSE Class XII Improvement Examination, 2026 from Al Jubail, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

According to the petition, Patel had applied to take improvement exams this year in five subjects: Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English and Computer Science.

He wrote the Physics and Chemistry exams. However, during the examination period, CBSE cancelled several examinations in West Asian countries during to war-related tensions and security concerns. The cancelled exams included Patel's Mathematics, English and Computer Science improvement exams.

CBSE subsequently issued a notification titled “Assessment Scheme for Declaration of Results of Class XII in West Asian Countries” on March 27, to enable the declaration of marks for students whose exams were cancelled.

The scheme provided that marks for cancelled examinations would be determined on the basis of quarterly, half-yearly and pre-board examination performance during the academic year. It also contemplated special examinations wherever necessary, the plea states.

The CBSE subsequently announced results for various exams on May 13. However, Patel's results were not declared. He has claimed that his result status was shown as “R.L. (Result Later)."

The petitioner has argued that this non-declaration of his result is arbitrary, unreasonable, discriminatory and violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.

The plea states that Patel had applied for admission to the B.Tech Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence programme at Dhirubhai Ambani University on May 2 and had paid the registration fee. The university required him to update his Class XII result status by June 1.

Due to CBSE’s failure to declare his result, the petitioner has said that he has been unable to complete the admission process or apply to other institutions.

The petition further states that Patel and his father sent representations to CBSE on May 17, May 21 and May 30, seeking a resolution of this issue. However, no response was received, the plea says.

Patel has, therefore, urged the top court to direct the Union Ministry of Education, the CBSE and the CBSE Regional Officer at Dubai, to declare his result by applying CBSE’s Mary 27 assessment scheme.

In the alternative, he has sought a direction to conduct special examinations or re-tests for Mathematics, English and Computer Science, which were cancelled due to war-related tensions and security concerns in the Gulf region.

Patel has contended that he is similarly situated to other students affected by cancellation of examinations in West Asian countries and cannot be denied the benefit of the assessment scheme merely because he appeared as a private candidate.

The petitioner has also sought a direction to CBSE to obtain and consider his quarterly, half-yearly and pre-board examination records from International Indian School, Al Jubail, for evaluation of the cancelled subjects.

The plea adds that Patel had earlier approached the Delhi High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution. However, the Joint Registrar allegedly refused to register and list the matter before the Vacation Bench on the ground that it did not fall under the category of an urgent matter.

Advocate Raj Kishor Choudhary has filed the petition. The petition was drawn by Advocate Vineet Jindal.