Kochi boy moves Supreme Court against CBSE re-exam

Thiruvananthapuram: A CBSE student from Kochi, Rohan Mathew, has approached the Supreme Court against the re-examination of Class X mathematics paper. Mathew filed a petition against the decision of the CBSE to cancel and re-conduct the mathematics examinations held on March 28 following the question paper leak. The petition pointed out that the decision to re-conduct the exam was arbitrary, illegal and violative of the Constitution's Article 14 (equality before law), Article 21 (right to life and liberty) and 21A (right to education).

Mathew asked the court to direct the CBSE to publish the results on the basis of the already held examination. He also pleaded for setting up a special high-powered committee to conduct a detailed inquiry into the case. The student, who is represented by his father Santhosh Mathew, a practising lawyer of Kerala High Court, in the petition moved through advocates Liz Mathew and Raghenth Basant also sought stringent action against the erring officers of the CBSE for "jeopardising the career of nearly 16 lakh students who appeared for the examination."

Mathew quoted the 1984 movie 'The Karate Kid' in which the wise old master tells his young student that "there is no such thing as a bad student, but only a bad teacher." Mathew said no matter how good or bad a teacher was, the responsibility finally always fell on the student to perform. The petitioner said the question was whether the decision, dated March 28, was based on "mere apprehension that there is a likelihood of the examination having been compromised is violative of the proportionality doctrine." Unless there is evidence for "widespread and systemic leaking of papers," cancellation of examination of this magnitude is not the solution, the petition said.