The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice on a public interest litigation seeking permission for CBSE Class 12 students to use basic, non-programmable calculators in board examinations, and sought responses from the Union government, CBSE, NCERT and PARAKH, the national assessment centre, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via Devdiscourse

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Justice Sanjay Sharma granted the authorities six weeks to file their responses, LiveLaw reported. The court expressed no view on the merits of the plea, and CBSE's counsel told the bench that the issue is under consideration and sought time to take instructions.

Source: LiveLaw

The petition was filed by Vishal Dua, a resident of Pitampura in Delhi, on behalf of himself and 10 other parents, through advocate Nitin Mangla, Bar and Bench reported. It seeks a direction permitting basic calculators in the Class 12 Accountancy examination and asks that the question of allowing calculators in Mathematics be examined by an expert committee.

Source: Bar and Bench

The parents argue that lengthy manual calculations consume a large share of examination time, leaving students less time to show their conceptual understanding of subjects such as Accountancy and Mathematics. The plea also seeks extension of the existing calculator facility available to students with dyscalculia to other categories of students with disabilities.

CBSE's own committee had approved the proposal in 2024

At the centre of the case is CBSE's own record. According to the petition, the Board's Curriculum Committee approved the use of basic calculators in Class 12 Accountancy examinations at its 70th meeting on November 25 and 26, 2024, and the recommendation was placed before CBSE's Governing Body in December 2024 — but it has since been neither notified nor implemented, LiveLaw and Bar and Bench reported.

The petitioners contend that the continued prohibition is arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, particularly when the Board's own committee has approved the change. They also point out that other boards, including CISCE, Cambridge IGCSE and the International Baccalaureate, permit calculator use under regulated conditions, according to the plea as reported by Bar and Bench.

The plea states that a representation sent in August seeking implementation of the proposal and a reasoned response has remained unanswered. What happens next is procedural: CBSE, NCERT, the Centre and PARAKH must file their replies within six weeks, after which the court will hear the matter further. Until a court order or a CBSE notification changes the rules, students cannot use calculators in board examinations except where the existing disability provisions apply.