UP Board Class 12 English Exam, Cancelled Due To Paper Leak, To Be Now Held On This Date

UP 12th Board Exam: The exam was cancelled in 24 districts after the question paper was leaked hours before the test was to begin.

The exam was to be held from 2 pm on Wednesday (Getty Images)

New Delhi: The Class 12 English exam of the Uttar Pradesh secondary school board, which was cancelled on Wednesday, will now be held on April 13 from 8 am to 11.15 am, a government notification said.

The exam was cancelled in 24 districts after the question paper was leaked hours before the test was to begin. The exam was to be held from 2 pm on Wednesday.

The Class 12 English exam was cancelled in Agra, Mainpuri, Mathura, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Bagpat, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Unnao, Sitapur, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Chitrakoot, Ambedkarnagar, Pratapgarh, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ballia, Varanasi, Kanpur Dehat, Etah and Shamli districts.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to slap National Security Act (NSA) against those involved in the leak and ordered the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police to probe the matter, PTI reported.

The CM also suspended Ballia's District Inspector of Schools (DIoS), Brajesh Mishra, following the incident. Ballia police have detained 11 people for questioning, PTI quoted a senior official as saying.

Confirming the development, Additional Chief Secretary (Information) Navneet Sehgal told PTI, "The chief minister has directed the STF to probe the matter and he suspended DIoS of Ballia Brajesh Mishra."

The government had warned before the start of the Uttar Pradesh Board exam that the stringent NSA would be used if anyone was found involved in a question paper leak.

"It appears the English question paper of class 12 was leaked in Ballia. The matter is being looked into and strict action will be taken against the guilty," PTI quoted Uttar Pradesh minister in charge of secondary education Gulab Devi as saying.

Asked why the exam was cancelled in only 24 districts, Gulab Devi said it was done in only those districts where the leaked paper was distributed.

Pouncing on the BJP over the incident, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accused the Adityanath government of not wanting the exam to be completed as it "failed in providing employment".

"The business of paper leak continues even in the second term of the BJP government. The youth are saying the government doesn't want any exam to complete because it has failed in providing employment. The BJP government should run paper bulldozers on paper mafias, at least for a show," tweeted Yadav.