The Allahabad High Court has once again drawn a clear line between scrutiny and re-evaluation of examination answer sheets. Hearing a writ petition filed by an Intermediate student dissatisfied with her Hindi and Biology marks, the Court ruled that re-checking answers is not allowed under existing law, even if a student believes she deserved higher marks.
The matter was heard by Justice Vivek Saran, who dismissed the petition after examining the statutory rules governing UP Board examinations.
Background of the Case
The petitioner, Faaiz Qamar, appeared in the Intermediate Examination conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad in 2025. Although she cleared the exam with good marks, she felt the scores awarded in Hindi and Biology did not reflect her performance.
Following the declaration of results, she applied for scrutiny of her answer sheets in June 2025. The Board later called her to its Meerut regional office, where she was shown her evaluated answer scripts.
After examining them, the student submitted a detailed representation pointing out specific questions in both subjects where, according to her, marks were wrongly deducted. However, the Regional Secretary rejected her request in September 2025, citing statutory rules that do not permit re-evaluation.
Challenging this rejection, the student approached the High Court seeking fresh evaluation of her answers.
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Court’s Observations
During the hearing, the State informed the Court that scrutiny had already revealed a totaling error in the Biology paper. Two additional marks were granted, raising the Biology score from 56 to 58 and increasing the overall total marks accordingly. No such error was found in the Hindi paper.
The Court noted that the petitioner’s main grievance was not about totaling mistakes but about how answers were assessed. On this issue, the bench was firm.
Referring to the Supreme Court ruling in Ran Vijay Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh, the judge observed that courts cannot order re-evaluation unless the statute expressly allows it or there is a clear and exceptional error.
“The law draws a distinction between scrutiny and re-evaluation,” the bench observed, adding that scrutiny only checks for calculation errors or unmarked answers, not the quality of assessment.
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The Court also referred to Chapter 12, Rule 21(ड़) of the U.P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921, which clearly states that scrutiny does not mean re-assessing answers already evaluated by examiners.
One of the grounds raised by the petitioner was her personal assessment that she deserved at least 90 marks in Hindi and 96 in Biology. The Court found this argument insufficient.
It noted that personal expectations or confidence in one’s performance cannot override statutory limits. Academic evaluation, the Court said, must remain with examiners and educational authorities, not courts.
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Final Decision
After considering the statutory provisions, Supreme Court precedent, and the facts placed on record, the Allahabad High Court held that the rejection order passed by the Board was legally sound.
The writ petition was dismissed on December 15, 2025, with the Court refusing to direct re-evaluation of the answer sheets.
Case Title: Faaiz Qamar v. State of Uttar Pradesh & Others
Case No.: Writ-C No. 42054 of 2025
Case Type: Writ Petition (Education Examination Dispute)
Decision Date: 15 December 2025
