CBSE admits answer sheet error after Class 12 student labelled ‘Pakistani’ online

A Delhi student, Vedant Shrivastava, who came under online attack and was labelled a “Pakistani” after pointing out discrepancies in the Central Board of Secondary Education’s (CBSE) new On-Screen Marking (OSM) system was proven right on Monday after the board admitted that a technical glitch had caused an incorrect scanned answer sheet to be uploaded under his roll number.

As the issue sparked an uproar with several other students also taking to social media with similar claims, the CBSE said on Monday evening that a correct copy of his answer book has been sent to him and necessary action for updating his result is being undertaken accordingly.

The CBSE’s acknowledgement comes amid increasing scrutiny of the On-Screen Marking (OSM) system introduced this year for Class 12 board exam evaluations as part of the board’s move towards faster, digitised assessment and greater transparency in post-result processes. The board had said the system would help minimise human error and make answer scripts more accessible during re-evaluation.

Also read | CBSE Class 12 results: Centre defends on-screen marking, slashes revaluation fees

However, several students have reported problems including blurred scans, missing pages and mismatched answer sheets. Shrivastava was among those who raised such concerns.

CBSE resolves answer sheet row

In its reply to Vedant on X, CBSE said, “Thank you for bringing your concern regarding your Physics answer book to our attention. Upon review, the matter has been examined, and the correct copy of your answer book has been sent to your registered email address. Necessary action for updating your result, as applicable, is also being undertaken accordingly.” It added, “We appreciate your patience and assure you of our continued support.”

Meanwhile, Vedant said the board shared the correct answer sheet. “We have got correct answer sheet by CBSE. CBSE officials reached out to us in the evening and has sent my answer sheet. We were correct on our claims and the answer sheet indeed got exchanged,” he said on X.

He had applied for scanned copies of his answer sheets on May 19 after receiving what he described as “unexpectedly low marks” in Physics when the CBSE announced Class 12 results on May 13.

After receiving the scanned copies on May 23, Vedant found that the Physics answer sheet uploaded against his roll number did not belong to him. He pointed out the discrepancy in a post on X, sharing side-by-side screenshots from his English and Computer Science answer sheets to show that the handwriting in the Physics paper was different from his own.

Social media backlash over complaint

“I studied for an entire year. I sacrificed sleep, peace of mind, outings, everything for these exams. And now I don’t even know whether my actual Physics paper was checked. Do students really deserve this?” he wrote in a post on X on May 23.

The post received more than 3.2 million views by Monday evening and soon turned into a social media controversy.

Several users accused him of trying to defame the CBSE and questioned why his X account location displayed “South Asia”, with some calling him “anti-national” and branding him “Pakistani”.

Also read | CBSE revises class 9, 10 language policy, three-language rule mandatory from 2026-27

An X account’s location setting can sometimes show broad regional identifiers such as “South Asia” depending on user preferences and app settings.

“My son faced great difficulty even applying for re-evaluation. After getting the scanned copies, he could not sleep properly and decided to raise the matter on X by posting screenshots of his answer scripts,” Shrivastava’s father, Sanjay Shrivastava, told Hindustan Times.

“He was called Pakistani and heavily trolled because his account location was showing South Asia. His brother later clarified that this happened due to a technical issue while setting up the account. It has affected his mental health and he is staying away from his phone now,” he added.