The Central Information Commission (CIC) has recommended that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) establish a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to establish a clear time frame for providing marks or answer sheets when students request them.The comments came while deciding an appeal filed by a Class 12 student to prepare for the 2021 board exams after the exams were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The student said that the errors in the assessment caused him “mental distress and depression”, for which he had to receive treatment.Information Commissioner Sudha Rani Relangi said, “It is very important in today’s situation that CBSE establishes a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that governs the timing of awarding/issuing marks or answers to student requests.”The CIC added, “This will be a step to help prevent any further problems of this type of problem as the Complainant is facing in this case, it may affect the minds of the youth.”The agency has “strongly recommended” under Section 25(5) of the RTI Act that the CBSE prepare an SOP and ensure that “information related to such policy is disclosed on its official website”.A copy of the order has been sent to the CBSE secretary for action. The First Appellate Body has also been ordered to submit a compliance report within four weeks.On the complaint of the student, the board said that, “the refusal of the Complainant to identify himself in any form of CPIO (Central Public Information Officer) is against the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005.”The CIC said that although the student’s challenge to his examination is in the high court, the CPIO “should have addressed the Appellant’s concern” by providing information regarding his evaluation after removing the candidate’s information which had not been disclosed under the RTI Act.The board directed the CPIO of CBSE to provide the student, free of charge, a revised answer along with the official information, including his marks in the tabular format requested in his RTI form.The student searched for five subject notes under the special CBSE policy that was introduced after the cancellation of the 2021 Class 12 board exams due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the meeting, he said that he had the right to know how his surveillance was organized and that the RTI Act did not prevent him from airing his documents.