New Delhi: A plea has been moved in the Supreme Court against the Karnataka High Court's order of May 27 declining to cancel  the Class 10 SSLC Board examination in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the high risk to the health and lives of lakhs of minor students. 

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Krishna Murari and S Ravindra Bhat is scheduled to take up the special leave petition by Smt Rajshree on Wednesday.

The plea contended the High Court failed to appreciate that the proposed examinations would not only pose serious health risk to lives of 8.48 lakh minor students but also to 25 to 30 lakh people involved in the entire process.

SSLS Board exams are scheduled to be held between June 25 and July 4, 2020.

The petitioner contended that allowing the Class X exams to go on during this COVID-19 pandemic, exposing more than 8.48 lakh children to travel to the examination centres and be exposed to large crowds of 500 to 700 persons at each examination centre for more than 10 days, would be a complete denial of the right to health guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Despite existent Standard Operating Procedure and guidelines in place, the decision would violate the right to life and health of minor students, which can be protected by promoting them based on their internal assessment marks taken by the school, as many other states have done, the petitioner said.

She said the entire examination process would involve the travelling of more than 25-30 lakh people in the State. Many would come from within containment zones and would be forced to use crowded buses and transport facilities to reach the examination centres where not less than 500 people would be present and physical distancing would not be possible, she added.