3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jun 8, 2026 05:31 PM IST
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a plea filed by a student from Saudi Arabia seeking directions to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to declare his Class 12 improvement examination result.
A bench comprising Justices Manmohan and Vijay Bishnoi issued notice to the CBSE and its regional office on the petition filed by Pransu Jigarkumar Patel. The court asked the Board to seek instructions in the matter, observing orally that the issue concerned the student’s academic future and admission prospects.
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“This is about the career of a child, he will miss all his admissions… Whatever it is, burn the midnight oil,” the bench remarked during the hearing.
Patel has challenged the CBSE’s failure to declare his result despite the assessment mechanism put in place for students affected by the cancellation of board examinations in several Gulf countries earlier this year.
According to the petition, Patel appeared as a private candidate in the CBSE Class 12 Improvement Examination 2026 from Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia, in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, English and Computer Science. He contended that the non-declaration of his result has jeopardised his higher education plans and deprived him of admission opportunities.
The plea further stated that representations sent to the CBSE on May 17, May 21 and May 30 seeking resolution of the issue did not receive a response.
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The case arises from the disruption of CBSE examinations across seven West Asian countries amid the Iran-Israel-US conflict earlier this year. The Board had cancelled Class 10 and 12 examinations in Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after escalating tensions in the region.
The CBSE examinations had commenced on February 17. Following the outbreak of hostilities and the widening conflict in West Asia, the Board first announced the postponement of examinations scheduled from March 2 onward in the affected countries. As the situation failed to improve, CBSE subsequently cancelled all remaining Class 10 examinations on March 5 and the remaining Class 12 examinations on March 15.
Around 52,000 students were registered for CBSE board examinations across the seven countries, including nearly 29,000 Class 10 students and 23,000 Class 12 students. The UAE accounted for the largest share of candidates, followed by Kuwait and Bahrain.
To address the disruption, CBSE announced a special assessment scheme for affected students and allowed those who had missed examinations because of the conflict to appear in the subsequent improvement examination cycle. The Board had stated that students covered under the special arrangement would be treated on par with candidates who had completed all their examinations.
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The Board had also clarified that students in the affected countries who were unable to appear for certain subjects would be permitted to take those papers during the improvement examination session, subject to the applicable eligibility conditions.
The Supreme Court will now consider Patel’s plea seeking declaration of his result under the framework announced by CBSE for students impacted by the cancellation of examinations in the Gulf region.
(With PTI inputs)