The Delhi High Court Monday directed the central government and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to submit a detailed status report on the leak of the Class 12 physics question paper for the 2014 senior secondary examinations in Manipur.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice B.D. Ahmed and Justice Siddharth Mridul, posting the matter for April 16, said it would hear the issue of conducting re-examination for other states, except Delhi.
The CBSE in its interim report told the court that the leak of the All India Senior Secondary Certification Examination question paper was not "widespread".
Filing an interim report, CBSE said that a four member committee comprising CBSE secretary and joint secretary has been formed to look into the issue.
"The committee's interaction with school, general public, custodian of question paper and information gathered brought it to the conclusion that the matter of leakage came to the knowledge of public at large only through the newspaper report and that the students of local schools remained unaware of the leakage prior to the newspaper reached there," the report said.
It added that the leakage was confined at limited areas of Imphal city and neighbouring areas of the state and "it appears that other states of the country are not affected".
"Therefore keeping in view of the overall situation and to maintain the sanctity of the examination, CBSE may reconduct the AISSCE 2014 physics paper in the whole state of Manipur. Simultaneously a formal complaint regarding the leakage may be lodged with police," it added.
The bench had earlier directed the government to conduct a fresh inquiry on the extent of the leak with regard to other states.
Each year, the CBSE prepares three sets of question papers for Delhi, rest of India and outside India.
The petition filed by Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi said the question paper set for the second category was leaked on the internet a day before the examination date.
"The question paper was leaked, downloaded on the internet, sold in the market," the petition said, adding that the question paper was accessible in the market for Rs.3,000.
While the CBSE has decided to conduct a re-examination of the physics paper in Manipur April 2, the petition had sought direction to the government to conduct re-examination for the rest of the country also.
The petition said that those who succeed in procuring the leaked question paper can certainly take advantage in the IIT JEE examination and getting admission in good colleges.
It said 40 percent of the marks obtained in the Class 12 examination are considered in the IIT JEE exam.
