Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday demanded a judicial inquiry into alleged irregularities in the evaluation process of the 2026 CBSE Class 12 board examinations, accusing the government and the Central Board of Secondary Education of allowing “massive tampering” in students’ results.
In a video message posted on X, Gandhi questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi had remained silent on the controversy surrounding the newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM) system used for digital evaluation of answer sheets.
The Congress leader alleged that a Hyderabad-based company, Coempt Edu Teck, was awarded the digital evaluation contract despite concerns over its past record. He claimed the board bypassed proper scrutiny and ignored warning signs before handing over responsibility for evaluating millions of answer scripts.
Gandhi further alleged that the company had previously operated under another name and had been linked to controversies in Telangana related to digital evaluation systems in earlier years. According to him, the government and CBSE were fully aware of the firm’s background before awarding the contract.
Calling the matter a “deliberate conspiracy” rather than an administrative mistake, Gandhi said millions of students and parents across the country were left distressed by alleged discrepancies in the examination results. He also demanded a special investigation into the entire process.
The controversy centres on CBSE’s implementation of the OSM system for Class 12 board examinations this year. Several evaluators reportedly complained that the new system created technical difficulties, including poor-quality scans of answer sheets, incorrect recording of marks and unfamiliar workflows that complicated the assessment process.
Parents and students also raised concerns over alleged mismatches and scanning errors in answer scripts. The issue gained further attention after reports suggested that some members of CBSE’s own governing body had earlier recommended pilot testing of the system across regional offices before nationwide implementation.
However, the board reportedly conducted only a limited two-day trial involving around 100 teachers in five Delhi schools in January before rolling out the system for the 2026 examinations.
Responding to the allegations, Central Board of Secondary Education strongly denied any wrongdoing in awarding the contract to Coempt Edu Teck.
In an official statement, the board said the allegations were “erroneous, misleading and not based on facts.” CBSE maintained that it had followed all General Financial Rules and procurement protocols while selecting the agency.
According to the board, the Request for Proposal (RFP) for digital evaluation of answer books was floated on the Central Public Procurement portal on August 28, 2025, and the contract was awarded after due process to a qualified bidder.
An education ministry official also defended the decision, saying the contract had been granted strictly in accordance with government norms and procedures. The official described Gandhi’s allegations as baseless.
CBSE officials had earlier acknowledged that the introduction of the OSM system led to some technical issues during the evaluation process. During a press conference held on May 17, the board admitted to facing challenges such as login failures, server overload and scanning deficiencies in the initial stages of implementation.
Out of nearly 9.87 million answer books evaluated this year, more than 68,000 scripts reportedly had to be rescanned because of poor image quality. Additionally, over 13,500 answer sheets were manually verified after repeated scanning attempts failed to generate readable digital copies.
Meanwhile, the number of students seeking access to their evaluated answer sheets has risen sharply this year. By May 26, CBSE had received more than 404,000 applications requesting scanned copies of over 1.13 million answer books, marking a significant increase compared to last year.
The board attributed the surge partly to a reduction in fees for obtaining scanned copies of answer sheets, which was lowered from ₹700 to ₹100 per subject earlier this month.
The controversy has now intensified political scrutiny over the examination process, with opposition parties demanding greater transparency and accountability in the evaluation system affecting millions of students nationwide.
