CBSE re-exam: 60 questioned, hunt on for whistleblower; top 10 developments

CBSE re-examinations: The re-test for Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) Class 12 economics paper will be held on April 25, while the Class 10 mathematics re-test, if required, will be conducted only for Delhi-NCR and Haryana in July, the government said on Friday. Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar said the announcements made by his ministry should clear all the confusion regarding the CBSE re-test.

After the CBSE re-examination announcement came, a CBSE student from Cochin on Friday approached the Supreme Court against the re-examination of the Class 10 maths paper.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has questioned over 60 people in connection with the CBSE leak case, including the administrators of over 10 WhatsApp groups on which the leaked question papers were shared, as the investigators sought to trace the origin of the leak.

Anil Swarup, Secretary School Education in Union Human Resources Development Ministry, said the decision to conduct fresh exams won't affect the date of publication of the results, which usually happens in May end. However, there will be no fresh test outside of India as the question papers are different for students appearing for CBSE examinations outside India.

Important CBSE announcements:

• No leak of CBSE papers outside India, hence no re-exam will be held abroad

• CBSE Class X Mathematics examination likely to be held in July

• Class XII Economics re-exam on April 25: Education Secretary

Ever since the papers were leaked, scores of students have been protesting to express their dissatisfaction over the poor governance and the CBSE re-examination decision.

On Wednesday, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed after the CBSE registered two cases with the Crime Branch.

The question paper of the Class 12 Economics exam, which was held on March 26, and Class 10 Maths, held on March 28, were leaked on social media hours before the examination.

A first information report (FIR) earlier revealed that CBSE had received an e-mail from devn532@gmail.com on March 28 at 1.29 am with 12 images of the CBSE Class 10 mathematics paper, but the CBSE completely ignored the tip-off sent by a person yet to be identified, according to media reports.

The leaked CBSE paper, which was even circulated on social media application WhatsApp was initially sold off for Rs 35,000, but the prices later dropped to Rs 5,000, according to media reports. It is alleged that 1,000 students in Delhi may have accessed the paper.

The Delhi Police wrote to Google asking it to share details of the ID from which the CBSE chairperson was sent the e-mail about the paper being leaked, police officials said.

You can check the board’s official announcements regarding the re-examination at www.cbse.nic.in. CBSE helpline numbers listed on their site are: 91-11-22509256, 22509257, 22509258, 22509259.

Here are the top 10 developments in the CBSE re-examination fiasco and the case around the CBSE paper leak:

1. Class 12 economics exam on 25 April, Class 10 maths likely in July: Anil Swarup, Secretary School Education in Union Human Resources Development Ministry, said the CBSE Class 10 mathematics question paper was leaked only in Delhi and Haryana as there was no evidence that it was a pan-India affair. "The leak was restricted to Delhi and Haryana, if at all a re-exam will happen, it will happen only in these states in July. A decision will be taken on this in the next 15 days," Swarup said on Friday. He said the Class 12 economics re-exam will be held on April 25.

On the decision to hold Class 12 economics re-examination, Anil Swarup said, "As I mentioned earlier, children have to go to the University to seek admission... they have to appear in various examinations. Most importantly, there is no time for a detailed inquiry (on) where exactly the leak happened."

"Our immediate concern of the children who have suffered and this decision is in that context. We will nail the person who did this," Anil Swarup added.

"For Class 10 Maths, the examination will take place if it is found that the leaks had been in Delhi and Haryana. The decision will be only for Delhi and Haryana... for rest of the states, no re-examination will happen," Anil Swarup said.

2. Why CBSE didn’t cancel the maths exam after tip-off: Anil Swarup said that although the mail had come at 1:29 am on March 28, it was only seen at 8:55 am, therefore, stopping the exam that was scheduled to commence at 10 am was not feasible.

"Putting the children at an inconvenience at some fellow's message who might be playing a trick... we could not have done that," Anil Swarup said, according to media reports.

"The mail came at 1.29 am on March 28 (early Wednesday) but the mail was seen at 8.55 am by the CBSE chairman. The paper was sent for verification. Just because there was an alert, we couldn't have stopped the exam," said Anil Swarup.

"This is not a perfect solution, in such a case there is no perfect solution possible. But we tried our best to limit the damage as much as possible. The information is limited and we are yet to ascertain what went wrong. Thus in such a situation, this decision was the best alternative we had," added Anil Swarup.

ALSO READ: CBSE class 12 re-exam on April 25, class 10 re-test likely in July; updates

3. Student moves SC against Maths re-exam: Rohan Mathew, a Class 10 CBSE student, on Friday approached the Supreme Court against the decision of the CBSE to cancel and re-conduct the Mathematics exam held on March 28 over the question paper leak.

Mathew sought the apex court's direction to the education board to publish results on the basis of already held examination.

He also sought setting up of a special high-powered committee to conduct a detailed investigation into the case.

The All India Parents Association had said on Friday that it would file a petition in the Delhi High Court on Monday seeking a court-monitored probe into the matter.

"The leaks have rocked the confidence of parents and students. Question is now being raised over the examination system being followed," president of the association and lawyer Ashok Agarwal said.

4. Over 60 questioned over CBSE paper leak: The Delhi Police has questioned over 60 people, including the administrators of over 10 WhatsApp groups on which the leaked question papers were shared.

The WhatsApp groups mostly comprise students and tutors and some of them had common members, the official said.

"If we are able to establish the link of any of these WhatsApp group members with those connected to officials related to the examination process, we might question the latter as we have got their details from the board," the official added.

ALSO READ: CBSE paper leak: Students protest in Delhi, want re-exam for all subjects

All those questioned, including tutors and students, have revealed that they got the papers from someone else. There is nothing to indicate that money was charged for sharing these papers, an official privy to the probe said.

Meanwhile, six students were detained in Chatra district of Jharkhand in connection with the leak of Class 10 mathematics and Class 12 economics papers.

5. CBSE received 5 complaints: The CBSE also informed the police that they had received five complaints informing them that the two papers were leaked, another official said, adding that the contents of these complaints have been shared with them and will be examined.

In the complaint pertaining to the mathematics paper, the board has said that a day before the exam, an e-mail was received on the CBSE chairperson's official ID informing about the leak, the officials said.

ALSO READ: CBSE paper leak: How many students appeared for board exams in 2018?

In the email, the sender had stated that the mathematics paper was leaked on WhatsApp and that it should be cancelled, they said.

The mail also contained 12 images of the handwritten mathematics paper allegedly leaked on WhatsApp, according to the complaint.

6. Search widened for whistleblower: The Delhi Police has widened the search for the whistleblower in the CBSE paper leaks case, who on three occasions alerted the education board about the leaks.

The police feel that the whistleblower who was alerting CBSE about paper leak through fax, courier, and email is the same person and can prove to be a key link in this case.

Hence, to locate the whistleblower, the Delhi Police have written to Google to share details of the email-id from which the CBSE chairperson was sent the mail about the paper being leaked.

ALSO READ: Prakash Javadekar feels heat of CBSE leak, students out on street

The police had also interacted with the CBSE Controller of Examination to understand the process of conducting exams.

The whistleblower, according to the police, sent a fax message on March 23 to the CBSE and alleged that a coaching centre was involved in a paper leak.

The concerned person then again on March 26 sent a courier to the Rouse Avenue office of the CBSE. In the courier, answers of the Class XII Economics question paper were written on four pages. Apart from it, mobile numbers of four persons were also mentioned who allegedly received these question papers on the WhatsApp groups.

7. No confusion now over CBSE re-test, says Javdekar: Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the announcements made by his ministry on Friday should clear all confusion regarding the re-test of the CBSE Class 10 maths and Class 12 Economics papers.

Clearing the confusion as to students of which states would give the Class 10 mathematics re-exam, Javadekar said, “Class-X students from J&K, Uttarakhand, Himachal, Punjab, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Northeastern states, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andaman, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh will not give the CBSE maths re-test."

I am amazed to see headlines in some news channels about confusion over retest. Out of 16 lakh students, more than 14 lakh students of Class X will not have to give retest in Maths. This is final decision. (1/2)

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) March 30, 2018

As far as Delhi and Haryana, where police investigation is on, retest for Class-X Maths will be conducted only if investigation points to large scale leak. There should be no confusion. (2/2)

— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) March 30, 2018

8. Opposition attacks Modi govt: The Opposition stepped up its attack on the government over the CBSE paper leaks, with the Congress accusing the government of sheltering the "exam mafia" that it claimed has taken over the examination system of the country.

The Congress questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the issue and asked why he has not apologised for the paper leaks.

Taking a swipe at the prime minister, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Modi would now write a sequel to his book "Exam Warriors" to teach students and parents stress relief, once their lives are "destroyed due to leaked exam papers".

PM wrote Exam Warriors, a book to teach students stress relief during exams.

Next up: Exam Warriors 2, a book to teach students & parents stress relief, once their lives are destroyed due to leaked exam papers. pic.twitter.com/YmSiY0w46b

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 30, 2018

ALSO READ: Too many leaks, the 'chowkidar' is weak: Rahul Gandhi on CBSE paper leak

9. Class 12 student wrote to Modi about CBSE paper leak: Apart from the e-mail sent to the CBSE chairperson, Class 12 student Jhanvi Behal from Ludhiana said that she had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 17, informing him about the leak, but no action was taken, according to news agency ANI.

"Along with a few other students and a teacher, we started to trace the trail of the leak and got in touch with people who were leaking papers through WhatsApp. We reported this to police but no action was taken," said Jhanvi Behal.

Jhanvi Behal's letter to Narendra Modi

10. Raj Thackeray asks students to boycott CBSE re-exam: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday asked students and parents to boycott re-examination for CBSE exam papers that got leaked.

"The government, by announcing the re-examination, is giving tension to students. This (the leak) was a mistake of the government and it should pay for the same, not the students," Thackeray said, according to news agency PTI.

"I request parents not to let students appear for the re-exam. If parents bend today, the next government will also indulge in the same thing," he said.

Watch: Prakash Javadekar says, "It's a challenge to solve the paper leak case."

With agency inputs