PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) today ordered the Peshawar Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (PBISE) to produce a ninth-grade student’s original Biology answer sheet carrying zero marks.
The court issued the order while hearing a petition challenging zero marks awarded to student Abdul Moeez in his Biology theory examination.
A two-member bench comprising Senior Puisne Judge Ijaz Anwar and Justice Babar Sattar heard the petition.
The petitioner’s lawyers, Aminur Rehman Yousafzai and Mohammad Arif Khan, argued that Moeez achieved an A+ grade in his other subjects.
However, the board awarded him zero marks in Biology theory despite scoring 23 out of 25 marks in the subject’s multiple-choice and practical components.
The counsel said the student applied for rechecking and requested access to his marked answer sheet.
However, the board informed him that no rules currently allowed students to inspect evaluated answer scripts.
Meanwhile, the lawyer cited examination practices at the National University of Sciences and Technology, where students can inspect their marked papers.
Justice Anwar observed that several other countries also allow students to review their examination papers after evaluation.
The counsel asked the court to examine the answer sheet, saying this would satisfy the petitioner.
He also raised concerns that the Biology answer sheet might have been misplaced, resulting in the zero score.
Consequently, the bench ordered the BISE to produce the original answer sheet at the next hearing on August 25.
