In signs that the ongoing impasse over the results for lakhs of students, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) is believed to have decided against challenging the Delhi High Court order on marks policy in Supreme Court, paving way for declaration of results on Saturday or Sunday.
Adhering to the Delhi HC order, the board has decided to continue with its five-point moderation policy for this year.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the board will announce the date of the result on Friday evening on its website. The results will certainly be declared by Sunday, the report said.
On Thursday, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had assured class 12 CBSE students that the result will be declared on time, amid worries that the HC order could lead to a delay.
"The results will be on time, there will be no delay. CBSE will make the announcement soon. The students should not worry. Justice will be done to everyone," Javadekar told reporters, when asked if the result will be delayed.
The Delhi High Court had ordered the CBSE not to go ahead with the scrapping of its moderation policy on extra marks and students were anxious that any consequent delay in the result could affect their college admission prospects.
Earlier, the CBSE contemplated upon moving the Supreme Court challenging the HC order. However, CBSE officials did not announce the intention officially.
According to the HT report, CBSE's legal advisers said the process to challenge the order might end up delaying the result announcement significantly.
“It has been decided that the board will not move the court based on the opinion received from the legal counsel and the Additional Solicitor General (ASG). We will carry out moderation based on the rules set (in the examination by laws of CBSE). But no ‘artificial’ spiking of marks will be done,” a CBSE official was quoted as saying by the daily.
The issue of six states already declaring their results was seen as another matter of concern as those students are likely to suffer in the undergraduate admissions.
Under the 'moderation policy' grace marks are given to students in exams for difficult questions. It was scrapped last month by the CBSE, a decision termed "irresponsible" by the high court earlier this week.
The HC had said it was unfair to students who had registered for the exam when the policy was still in place. Sources said that at a high-level meeting yesterday chaired by the minister, it was decided that the Board will take legal opinion before deciding on its future course of action.
The court had said the decision of the CBSE, which would come into effect from this year, "would have a drastic effect on the students".
It also asked the board why it cannot implement the change in policy from next year as the results of the 2016-17 exams are expected to be announced in a few days. The CBSE along with 32 other boards had decided to do away with the marks moderation policy last month.
