Centre refuses grace marks in CBSE OSM rowThe Union government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it cannot consider giving grace marks to students who raised discrepancies in the Central Board of Secondary Education's On-Screen Marking of Class 12 answer sheets in 2026.
A one-week window was opened for re-evaluation and 1.68 lakh students had applied for change in their marks, Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta said, appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant.
"Now, they are asking for grace marks, that is not possible," Mr. Mehta said.[petitioners]Advocate Laxmikant Matadan Shukla, representing petitioner Rakesh Binjola, said students who had suffered due to faulty OSM evaluation have gone on to clear other entrance exams. However, they were stuck for not having scored the required minimum qualifying marks in the Class 12 exams. "The number is huge. A week is too less," Mr. Shukla submitted.
The top court asked the government to file an affidavit detailing the remedial measures taken following the spotting of irregularities in the OSM-valued answer sheets.Mr. Mehta said the Centre did not view the litigation as an adversarial one, however, the petitioners seemed to have missed their chance during the one week when the window was opened to accept applications for re-evaluation.
The petitioner was instructed to file a rejoinder pointing out cases in which students seeking re-evaluation could not access the portal due to infrastructural deficiencies, and the cases of those who were able to give their answer sheets for re-evaluation, but did not receive their revised answer sheets.
The petition said 17 lakh students had appeared for the Class 12 exams in May 2026, including his son, whose answer sheet could not be uploaded on the CBSE website. "Irregularities in the OSM checking system have affected a large number of students, recording a huge drop in the overall pass percentage this year to 85.2% - a drop of 3.19 percentage points from last year and the lowest level seen in the past seven years," the petition said.
He said that many students who had applied for re-evaluation did not receive their revised answer sheets. Time limit was contested. The government said one-week window was enough. Petitioners said a week isn't enough, many didn't receive revised sheets.
The case is now about more than marks. It is about trust in digital evaluation. CBSE moved to On-Screen Marking to bring speed and transparency. But for 1.68 lakh applicants - nearly 10% of cohort - the system showed cracks: answer sheets not uploaded, portal inaccessible, revised sheets not delivered.
And the stakes are high. Class 12 marks decide entrance eligibility. Even if a student cleared JEE or CUET, failing to get minimum qualifying marks in boards blocks admission. Grace marks, petitioners argue, are not a favour but a correction for systemic failure.
Centre's refusal signals it sees re-evaluation as remedy enough. But for students who missed that narrow window due to tech glitches they did not create, justice delayed may feel like justice denied.