CBSE says fake Class 12 Hindi question paper circulated on social media; board chief calls it 'act of mischief'

The Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) clarified on Saturday that a fake question paper of Class XII Hindi (elective) is being circulated on social media platforms such as WhatsApp and YouTube, according to several media reports.

The Hindi exam is scheduled to be held on 2 April.

Representational image. PTI

The clarification was issued after students staged a demonstration near the CBSE office at Preet Vihar in New Delhi and claimed they had the "leaked" paper, according to a report in The Indian Express. However, CBSE chief Anita Karwal dismissed the reports. "This is definitely mischief. A group of students protesting outside CBSE claim to have it. They are circulating it too," said Karwal, according to the report.

The latest development comes after Jharkhand Police arrested three people and nine minors in Chatra in connection with the leak of Class X mathematics and Class XII economics papers. Earlier, Delhi Police questioned over 60 people in connection with the CBSE leak case, including the administrators of over 10 WhatsApp groups on which the leaked question papers were shared, as the investigators sought to trace the origin of the leak.

Following the leaks, CBSE announced that a re-examination of the Class XII economics paper will take place on 25 April, while the re-test for the Class X mathematics paper is likely to be conducted in July.

CBSE's decision has left students in a lurch with the dates clashing with entrance exam dates, another round of tuitions and above all the 'phobia' of facing the examination day yet again. "First of all, the authorities should have ensured there was no paper leak. Why should we suffer and go through the same drill? The paper was so good and now we have to again prepare for it. Also, my filmmaking entrance exams are clashing with the tentative dates being announced by CBSE on television," Vanishka, a Class XII student, who has to reappear for the economics paper, told PTI. 

With inputs from PTI