Delhi Class 12 Student Trolled As ‘Pakistani’ After Questioning CBSE Marks; Board Later Admits Technical Error

A Delhi Class 12 student who questioned the Central Board of Secondary Education's new digital checking method has been cleared after days of online attacks. CBSE has admitted that a technical problem led to a wrong scanned Physics answer sheet being linked to the student’s roll number under the On-Screen Marking system.

The student, Vedant Shrivastava, had publicly raised concerns about the accuracy of his Physics evaluation and the integrity of the new process. After his post went viral on X, some users abused Vedant and labelled the Delhi student “Pakistani”, accusing Vedant of targeting the board without basis.

CBSE OSM system error acknowledged and marks to be revised

CBSE joint secretary (coordination) Vedant Shrivastava wrote to the student on email, accepting that the scanned Physics script did not belong to Vedant. The communication, reviewed by HT, confirmed that Vedant’s correct copy has now been traced and the Physics marks would be revised soon after re-evaluation.

A senior CBSE official also confirmed the mistake but did not give details about how the confusion occurred. The official, who requested anonymity, said, "We communicated to Vedant Shrivastava today and have sent the correct answer copy to him on his email. His marks will be updated accordingly."

Student’s social media post on CBSE OSM system sparks trolling

The issue began after CBSE declared Class 12 results on May 13 and Vedant found the Physics score much below expectations. Vedant applied on May 19 for scanned copies of all answer sheets. When the files arrived on May 23, the Physics script marked under Vedant’s roll number showed handwriting different from the other subjects.

Vedant posted screenshots on X, placing pages from English and Computer Science answer sheets next to the Physics script to highlight the contrast. Vedant wrote a detailed message saying, "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?"

The post quickly drew attention and had crossed 3.2 million views by Monday evening. Along with support, Vedant faced harsh trolling. Some users alleged that Vedant wanted to defame CBSE and pointed to Vedant’s X location tag showing “South Asia”, with several comments calling Vedant “anti-national” and “Pakistani”.

A location setting on X can list wider regions such as “South Asia” depending on user choices and device settings. Vedant’s family later stressed that this display resulted from an account configuration issue when the profile was created and was not linked to any political position or nationality claim.

Family recounts mental strain amid CBSE OSM system controversy

Vedant’s father, Sanjay Shrivastava, said the family had already struggled with the initial re-evaluation process before the wrong copy surfaced. "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," Sanjay told HT.

Sanjay added that the abuse deeply affected Vedant’s wellbeing. "He was called Pakistani and heavily trolled because his account location was showing South Asia. His brother later clarified this was due to a technical issue while setting up the account. It has taken a toll on his mental health and he is staying away from his phone now," Sanjay said.

Vedant’s brother, Siddhanta, later used X to defend Vedant and explain the context in detail. "I am the brother of Vedant and I am appalled seeing how people are calling us Pakistani. Vedant did not even have Twitter because he was busy studying instead of tweeting. We created the account only to raise his genuine issue," Siddhanta wrote.

Wider complaints about CBSE OSM system and re-evaluation glitches

The error has intensified the debate around the CBSE On-Screen Marking system, introduced this year for Class 12 evaluations to support digital checking and faster post-result services. CBSE has claimed that OSM helps reduce manual errors and gives students easier access to answer copies for verification and re-evaluation.

However, several students have reported various problems since the system’s rollout. Complaints include blurred scans where handwriting is hard to read, missing pages within answer scripts, and cases where mismatched copies appeared under particular roll numbers, similar to Vedant’s experience.

Amid these concerns, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Sunday that professors and technical specialists from IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur would help CBSE improve the post-result services portal. The move followed reports from students and parents about technical glitches during the re-evaluation process and claims of unexpectedly low scores under the new digital evaluation method.

Policy response and status of CBSE OSM system processes

CBSE officials have publicly defended the OSM framework and highlighted its role in transparency. During a press conference on May 17, board representatives stated that digital checking would also be applied for re-evaluation, maintaining that the system has made the evaluation process more efficient despite early implementation issues.

Monday marked the last date for students to request scanned copies and file objections to questions across subjects. CBSE evaluators are expected to study those objections and implement any necessary changes to marks by May 29, following the timelines already shared for Class 12 students.

The board has also said it would issue refunds to candidates who were overcharged because of glitches in the Class 12 post-result process. Separate reports have highlighted that some students faced delays and additional stress applying abroad, with IITs and public sector banks being consulted earlier to tackle OSM-related complaints affecting foreign university admissions.

CBSE OSM system, Class 12 results and key statistics

The Class 12 results announced on May 13 showed a slide in overall performance compared with the previous year. The aggregate pass percentage stood at 85.20%, which is 3.19 percentage points lower than the 88.39% recorded last year, and is the weakest pass rate reported since 2019.

Key dates and figures linked to the CBSE OSM system and Class 12 results are given below.

For Vedant, CBSE’s admission that a wrong Physics script was uploaded has brought formal recognition of the issue after intense public debate. The case has also drawn attention to student stress during high-stakes exams and renewed questions about how reliably the new OSM model supports fairness, accuracy and timely redressal.