CBSE leak: Maths, Economics re-exam dates soon, says govt, Board Chief

Congress said a fair and impartial investigation into the CBSE paper leak issue would be impossible without removing HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and CBSE Chairperson Anita Karwal

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Chairperson Anita Karwal on Thursday said that the dates for the re-examination will be announced soon.

"We have taken the decision in favour of the students and in utmost fairness. Very soon we will announce the dates (for re-test). Any further decision would also be taken in the favour of the students," she told reporters in Delhi.

Earlier, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had spoken on the same line about the re-exam date. The minister has said that the CBSE is expected to announce the re-examination date for Class 10 mathematics and Class 12 economics subject most likely on Monday or Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police has started investigating the case. Delhi Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) R P Upadhyay said they were trying to reach the "point of origin" of the papers circulated through WhatsApp ahead of the examinations.

Police also said they have so far interrogated 25 people in the case.

Students on Thursday protested the CBSE paper leak at Jantar Mantar, raising slogans of "we want justice". The CBSE received a complaint naming a person from Delhi's Rajinder Nagar as being behind the leak of Class 10 and 12 examination papers.

More than 2.8 million students have been affected by CBSE's decision to re-conduct examination for two papers of Class 10 and 12. According to the CBSE, a total of 1,638,428 and 1,186,306 students had registered for examination this year for Class 10 and Class 12, respectively. Therefore, over 2.8 million candidates of both classes would have to re-sit the exams due to the board's inability to keep its test papers secure. The fresh dates for the two re-examinations shall be announced before the end of the week.

Earlier, on March 26, the office of the CBSE had received an unaddressed envelope containing four sheets of handwritten answers of the Class 12 Economics paper, the Board said in its complaint to the Delhi Police. The Delhi Police's crime branch is investigating the alleged leak of Class 12 economics and Class 10 mathematics papers after registering two separate cases in the matter. 

Javadekar has said a new leak-proof system would be put in place for conducting board exams. Seeking to reach out to parents and students worried over the alleged incidents of repeated leaks, Javadekar said he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprised him of the developments. He also said that the HRD ministry had initiated an internal probe into the matter.

The papers of the Economics exam of class 12 held on March 26 and Maths exam of class 10 held on March 28, were leaked on social media hours before the examination. Students can check out details on cbse.nic.in. The general enquiry CBSE (HQ) contact numbers listed on their site are: 91-11-22509256, 22509257, 22509258, 22509259.

Here are top 10 developments in the CBSE exam paper leak and the re-examination of class 10 mathematics and class 12 economics subjects:

1) New dates for re-exams soon: CBSE Chairperson Anita Karwal on Thursday said that the decision to hold re-examination of two subjects was taken in favour of the students and the new dates for the exams would be announced soon.

"Students don't have to worry about anything. We are with them," she added.

2) Police trying to reach 'point of origin': Delhi police on Thursday said it is investigating the case by trying to reach the "point of origin" of the papers circulated through WhatsApp ahead of the examinations.

Addressing a media conference, Delhi Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) R P Upadhyay said 25 people had been interrogated so far. "Of these 25, 18 were students, five tutors and two were private persons.

"None of them has been arrested or given a clean chit," he added.

Of the 18 students, five are college students who were in one way or the other linked to the students who received the leaked papers.

3) CBSE likely to announce re-exam dates by Mon or Tue, says Javadekar: Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Thursday that CBSE is expected to announce on Monday or Tuesday the next date of re-examination for Class 10 mathematics and Class 12 economics subjects.

"The CBSE will declare what will be the next step in couple of days, probably on Monday or Tuesday," Javadekar told reporters in Delhi.

4) Congress calls for removal of Javadekar and CBSE chairperson: The Congress today hit out at the Modi government over the CBSE paper leak. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told news agencies that without removing Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar and CBSE Chairperson Anita Karwal from their current positions, a fair and impartial investigation into the paper leak issue would be impossible.  

5) Surjewala asks why post of CBSE chairman was left vacant for two years: Speaking to news agencies about the CBSE paper leak, Congress' Surjewala said that after Vyapam and SSC incidents, now three papers of CBSE have also been leaked. He added that according to students, some more papers have also been leaked. 

Surjewala also said that there was an error in the evaluation of Class 12 exams in 2017. "Why was the post of CBSE chairman left vacant for two years?" he asked. 

6) Javadekar says CBSE paper leak culprits will not be spared: Addressing the media today on the CBSE paper leak, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the leaks were "a very unfortunate development".  Javadekar said that he understood "the pain the parents and students have to go through".

"Whoever is involved in the paper leak will not be spared, police will soon arrest the culprits," said Javadekar, adding, "I also could not sleep, I am also a parent." 

7) Delhi School Association questions CBSE's silence: The Delhi School Association on Thursday questioned the silence of CBSE chairman Anita Karwal over the issue of the class 10 and 12 board exam paper leak. "CBSE chairman should at least give a statement, why hasn't she spoken to students and parents? This is condemnable," Ramesh Chand Jain, President of Delhi School Association, told news agency ANI.

Jain also called on the government to put the culprits behind bars and asserted that the first step should be to set the system right.

8) Fax reveals identity of person behind CBSE paper leak: The CBSE has received a complaint by fax naming a person from Delhi's Sector 8, Rajinder Nagar as being responsible for the CBSE paper leak of Class 10 and 12 examination papers. The complaint, which was sent by an unknown source on March 23, claimed that the perpetrator operates a coaching institute. The complaint also named two schools from the same vicinity as complicit in the leakage. The CBSE conveyed these details to the Delhi Police on Thursday.

In the letter to the Delhi Police, the education board stated that the complaint copy was forwarded to the regional office of CBSE on March 24 and to Inspector Sushil Yadav on his Whatsapp. "On March 26, CBSE academic unit received an unaddressed envelope containing four sheets of handwritten answer papers of economics paper held on that day. It was indicated in the papers kept inside the envelope that the question paper was leaked and circulated through four WhatsApp numbers," the letter read.

9) Police detain Rajinder Nagar coaching centre head as main suspect: Continuing its investigation into the CBSE paper leak, the Delhi Police has detained an individual named Vicky, DNA reported today. According to the report, Vicky operates a coaching centre in Rajinder Nagar. He has been detained in relation to the CBSE paper leak that has forced the board to order re-tests of class 10 maths and Class 12 Economics papers.  

Citing media reports, DNA said that Vicky was believed to be the kingpin of the operation and that he was the main suspect.  

10) Delhi students protest CBSE paper leak: Students impacted by CBSE's decision to conduct re-examinations for Class 10 maths and Class 12 economics board papers on Thursday protested the CBSE paper leak at Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi. Raising slogans of "we want justice", the students told news agencies that "either there should be re-examination for all subjects" or for none at all. 


Rahul Gandhi mocks Modi over CBSE paper leak: Congress President Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the CBSE paper leak, saying that the "chowkidar was weak". Taking to Twitter, Gandhi slammed the government over various leaks. He also used the hashtag "BasEkAurSaal", a reference to the government being left with one year of its term.

How many leaks? Data leak! Aadhar leak! SSC Exam leak! Election date leak! CBSE papers leak! There is a leak in everything, the 'chowkidar' is weak, Gandhi said in a tweet that was in both Hindi and English.  

Watch Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar speak on the CBSE paper leak:  

With agency inputs