BENGALURU: The High Court of Karnataka has upheld the order of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) of not allowing a Class 12 student to write exams after he was found carrying a mobile phone in his pocket while appearing for a written exam in February 2025. The student was not allowed to write the current as well as next year’s exams.
A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha passed the order allowing an appeal by CBSE and the controller of examination of CBSE, questioning the order passed on August 28, 2025, by a single judge, quashing the action taken against the student. The single judge also directed the board to announce the results of the student.
The use of mobile phone/electronic devices attracts a severe penalty under the Unfair Means (UFM) Category - 3 of the CBSE. This was a matter of discussion at the 139th general body meeting of the CBSE held on June 24, 2024. The meeting accepted the recommendation of the examination committee to modify the existing guidelines. As a result, even mere possession of a mobile phone became an offence under the bylaw of UFM Category - 3 that seeks a stringent penalty, which was given to the student in this case.
“The said aspect having been proposed, discussed and ratified by a body of experts, this court, substituting its opinion with that of the body of experts, does not arise,” the division bench said.
The Class 12 student of a city school appeared for the examination which commenced on February 17, 2025. On the first day, an invigilator noticed a mobile phone in the student’s pocket and reported it to the observer at the examination centre. Immediately, the phone was seized and a fresh question paper was given to him. After this incident, he was allowed to write other papers.
After the exam, the student was called for an inquiry by the unfair means committee, where he stated that he arrived late at the examination centre and went to the classroom in a hurry, unmindful of the fact that he was carrying a phone in his pocket. The phone was not found even when he was frisked before entering the classroom.