NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to direct the CBSE and the CISCE to provide option of hybrid mode, instead of the offline mode only, for the class 10 and 12 board examinations, saying it would not be appropriate to disturb the process at this stage.

The apex court noted that term one board exams of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) have already commenced from November 16 while semester one of board examination of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) are to commence from November 22.

A bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was representing the CBSE, that all precautions have been taken for conducting the board exams in offline mode and the examination centres have been increased from 6,500 to 15,000.

The bench said that it "hopes and trusts" that authorities will take all precautions and measures to ensure that no one is exposed to anything untoward in the examination process.

The top court was hearing a plea, filed by six students who would be appearing in the board examinations, seeking directions to the CBSE and the CISCE to issue a revised circular for conducting the ensuing class 10 and 12 board exams in hybrid mode instead of offline mode only amid the COVID-19 pandemic.