Class 12 Student Flagged CBSE Answer Sheet Error, Was Called Pakistani Online. CBSE Apologises
Vedant Shrivastava did what any 17-year-old would do when something felt off.
He checked his Physics answer sheet.
CBSE Class 12 results came out on May 13. Vedant scored well in English and Computer Science — subjects he expected. But Physics? Way lower than what he had prepared for. Something didn’t add up.
So on May 19, he applied for scanned copies of his answer sheets—standard procedure. Thousands of students do it every year.
What he found stopped him cold.
The answer sheet CBSE sent him had handwriting that wasn’t his.
Not even close.
A different student’s Physics paper had been linked to his roll number. His actual work — a year of studying, sleepless nights, everything — had been evaluated by someone else’s script. The system had swapped them.
Vedant posted the evidence on X. His account was brand new — created specifically to raise this issue. His brother Siddhanta helped set it up. The location field defaulted to “South Asia” because he didn’t change it.
That one detail lit the fuse.
The Abuse Came Faster Than the Answer
Within hours, Vedant was drowning in abuse.
“Do you even study in India?”
“Pakistani agent.”
“Anti-national.”
“Soros-funded deep state actor.”
The accusations came fast and vicious. A Doordarshan journalist, Ashok Shrivastav — host of the state-funded DD News primetime show Do Took — publicly tweeted “Did Pakistanis also appear for the CBSE exam?” after spotting the South Asia location on Vedant’s profile. He later deleted the tweet and apologised after massive backlash (Newslaundry confirmed this). The post had already gone viral.
Strangers who had never seen his face, never read his marksheet, decided a 17-year-old was a national security threat because he asked for his own exam paper to be checked. Vedant’s post crossed 3.2 million views. So did the hate.
His father, Sanjay, told the press, “My son faced great difficulty even applying for re-evaluation. It has taken a toll on his mental health. He is staying away from his phone now.”
Three million people saw his plea. Hundreds called him a traitor. The education board? Silent.
The Backlash That Forced a Response
Then the tide turned.
Rahul Gandhi stepped in. The Leader of Opposition posted: “A 17-year-old boy, whose answer sheet was wrongly evaluated, turned to social media in hope of justice. But instead of help, he got abuse — BJP’s IT cell branded him an ‘Anti-National’, called him a ‘Soros agent’, a part of the ‘Deep State’.”
The Cockroach Janta Party — the Gen Z-led viral political group — backed him publicly. “We stand with Vedant. All he has done is expose the mismanagement in CBSE exams. Education Minister must resign!
Public sentiment flipped. The same accounts that had been calling him anti-national were now being called out themselves.
And CBSE? They finally called.
The Apology, Three Days Late
“CBSE communicated to Vedant Shrivastava today and has sent the correct answer copy to him by email. His marks will be updated accordingly,” an official said.
A quiet acknowledgment. No press conference. No public mea culpa about the system failure. Just an email, three days after the internet tore a teenager apart.
The On-Screen Marking (OSM) system — introduced this year for Class 12 evaluation — is at the heart of the mess. Answer sheets are scanned and assessed digitally on computer screens. In theory, it’s faster and more transparent. In practice, scanned pages have been blurry, missing, and — as Vedant discovered — swapped between students.
CBSE admitted “technical capacity challenges and student apprehensions” with the new system. They promised an investigation into how Vedant’s answer sheet got swapped.
They haven’t explained it yet.
The Part That Remains Unchecked
Vedant’s brother Siddhanta posted a photo of them eating rajma chawal after the ordeal ended. The caption: “A big thanks to all who supported us from Vedant and Siddhant, and we are not Pakistani.”
The last sentence shouldn’t have to exist.
A 17-year-old studied for an entire year, sacrificed everything, flagged a genuine error in the system, and spent three days being called an anti-national for it. CBSE fixed the marks. But the board didn’t fix what broke first — the assumption that a student asking questions must be an enemy.
That part is still unchecked.
