Delhi High Court grants CBSE 8 weeks to decide on the issue of refund of examination fee

On Wednesday, CBSE was directed by the Delhi High Court to decide within eight weeks if it would be refunding the examination fees taken for class X and class XII board examinations since the exams have been cancelled due to COVID-19. The decision of CBSE would be open to challenge if the petitioner is not satisfied, the court clarified as it disposed of the petition.

The petition was filed by one Deepa Joshi, mother of a Class X student of a school in Delhi, who had paid ₹ 2,100 as fee for the board exam. The petition was filed for a refund of the examination fee taken for the class X and class XII board examinations as the exams are cancelled due to the pandemic.

The parties had no objection to the hearing of the petition by Justice Prateek Jalan, even though his son is a Class 12 student and thus he would be a beneficiary of the petition. It was contended on behalf of the petitioner that as the board examination has been cancelled due to COVID-19, at least some part of the examination fees ought to be refunded to the students.