‘Erroneous, misleading’: CBSE rejects Rahul Gandhi’s allegations in Class 12 OSM row, defends contract awarded to Coempt Edutech

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on Wednesday rejected Rahul Gandhi‘s allegations linked to the ongoing controversy over the Class 12 evaluation process and defended the award of a digital evaluation contract to Coempt Edutech.In a tweet in response to Rahul’s post, CBSE said the allegations were “erroneous, misleading and not based on facts”. The board said it had followed all government financial rules while awarding the contract for digital evaluation of answer sheets for Board Exams 2026.“CBSE rejects the allegations regarding the award of contract to Coempt Edutech. It is erroneous, misleading and not based on facts. CBSE has followed the General Financial Rules protocols scrupulously in the awarding of the contract to the agency,” the board said.CBSE further stated that the Request for Proposal (RFP) for digital evaluation of answer books was floated on the Central Public Procurement portal on August 28, 2025. According to the board, the contract was later awarded to the qualified bidder after following the required process.The clarification came after Rahul Gandhi raised questions over the role of Coempt Edutech, claiming the company had earlier faced controversy in Telangana in 2019 under the name Globarena. He alleged that while the company’s name had changed, its “intent and nature” remained the same.Rahul Gandhi further questioned why the contract was awarded to the company and asked whether proper background checks and procedures had been followed before awarding the project. He also demanded an independent judicial inquiry and immediate formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT).