The Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that it cannot permit the ICSE exams to be conducted because of the COVID-19 situation.

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni said, “At a meeting of the State Disaster Management Committee held through video conference on June 22, 2020 with the Chief Minister in the Chair, a decision has been taken not to permit the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) to conduct Classes X and XII examinations re-scheduled from July 2, 2020, given the COVID-19 situation.”

Advocate Aditya Mehta for the Council said if the State decides not permit the CBSE to conduct Classes X and XII examinations, the Council would abide by the State’s decision.

The decisions taken by the Central government and the CBSE are expected to be placed before the Supreme Court on June 25 and depending on the decision of the apex court, the CISCE may have to workout the methodology for computing the results of examinations.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and justice SS Shinde said, “In such a situation, the orders passed by the Supreme Court upon consideration of the said decisions would have a vital bearing on these proceedings.”

The court through video conferencing was hearing a PIL filed by a father of a Class X student of a school affiliated with the ICSE along with some interventions.

Previously, senior counsel Darius Khambata appearing for the CISCE, had said the students of Class X and XII can physically take the final exams or opt for marks based on internal assessment. He had said apart from physical appearance, the decision taken by them also gives an option to an examinee, who is not willing to write the examination physically, to have his result completed on the basis of marks obtained by him at the pre-board examination/internal assessment. The marks awarded to the examinee in the papers which he has already written will also be taken into consideration.