CBSE Board Exam | Student Entitled To Full Marks If Examiner Fails To Award Mark But Puts A Tick Against Answer Provided: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that a student is entitled to full marks where the examiner fails to award mark in the margin against a particular answer even after entering a tick mark, thereby indicating that the answer is correct.

Justice C Hari Shankar said that consequence of the lapse of the examiner, if any, cannot be visited on the student.

The court said that even if there is an error at the end of the examiner, so long as the answer sheet does not reflect the examiner's view as being that the answer is incorrect, the student has to be given the benefit of doubt.

“Assuming the examiner is remiss in a particular case regarding the manner in which he has marked the answer sheet, the student cannot be made to suffer and, unless the Court is satisfied that the examiner has found the answer to be incorrect, the student has to get the benefit of marks allotted to the question, against the answer that he has provided,” the court said.

It added: “In my considered view, while the failure to award marks in the margin against a particular answer even after entering a tick(✓) mark may be a lapse on the part of the examiner in complying strictly with the instructions issued by the CBSE, the student cannot be made to suffer for that reason.”

The court made the observations while awarding full marks to a girl against the answer provided by her to a question in Class XIIth Board Examination's Geography paper held in March last year.

It was the girl's case that the examiner had entered two tick(✓) marks against the answer to the question and thus, she was entitled to full marks against the answer.

On the other hand, CBSE contended that as the examiner did not enter any mark in the margin alongside the answer to the question, the Board could not have awarded any mark against the answer.

Allowing the plea, the court observed that as long as the examiner found the answer provided by the student to be correct, there can be no question at all of the student being awarded no marks against that answer.

“The decision on whether an answer to a question is relevant, correct, or incorrect, vests in the examiner. The CBSE cannot sit in appeal over the decision of the examiner,” the court said.

It added that if the answer to a question is correct, the student is entitled to be awarded marks against that answer. Furthermore, the court observed that if the examiner has not assigned any mark less than the maximum marks which can be awarded against that question, the student is entitled to be awarded the maximum marks.

“In that view of the matter, I am of the opinion that the petitioner is entitled to full marks against the answer provided by her to Question 27 of the Geography paper held on 2 March 2023 in the Class XII Board Examination,” the court said.

Justice Shankar thus directed CBSE yo issue a corrected mark sheet to the girl by adding 5 marks against the answer provided to the question.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Musheer Zaidi and Ms. Zahra Naqvi, Advocate

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Atul Kumar, Advocate for Respondent No.1