A high-level inquiry conducted by the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBOSE) has confirmed deliberate tampering of Class X answer sheets belonging to students of Government High School, Jeora, in Bilaspur district after the evaluation process was completed.
The findings of the board’s internal committee corroborate the earlier report submitted by the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL), Dharamsala, which had detected manipulation in the evaluated answer sheets sent for forensic examination.
HPBOSE Chairman Dr Rajesh Sharma said the inquiry had conclusively established that answer sheets of students who appeared in the March 2025 matriculation examination were altered after evaluation. “The matter has been viewed with utmost seriousness by the Board. Both the forensic findings and the internal inquiry have confirmed tampering,” he said.
According to the inquiry report, correct answers written by students were deliberately struck off and replaced with incorrect responses, resulting in a steep decline in marks of several meritorious students. Many students who had consistently secured over 90 per cent marks during the academic session witnessed an unexpected drop in scores, particularly in English and Art subjects.
The probe also revealed serious irregularities in the handling of answer sheets. Sources said the serial numbers on tamper-proof envelopes used for storing answer sheets did not match the numbers recorded in official packing memos. The discrepancy has raised suspicion that answer sheet packets may have been exchanged either at the examination centre or during subsequent handling.
Dr Sharma said all inquiry documents had been forwarded to the Education Department for departmental as well as legal action.
To provide relief to the affected students, HPBOSE has decided to award grace marks in the affected subjects.
The case pertains to the matriculation examination conducted at the Jhandutta examination centre in Bilaspur district, where 40 students had appeared, including 11 from Government High School, Jeora. Nine students had formally complained of tampering in the MCQ section of their answer sheets.
After re-evaluation brought only marginal improvement, the students obtained photocopies of answer sheets under the RTI Act, which allegedly revealed manual alterations. Subsequent forensic examination confirmed deliberate tampering.
