Company hired by CBSE for OSM was disqualified by Kannur University over ‘clean record’ declaration

Mumbai: Coempt Eduteck, the company entrusted by the CBSE with handling one of the most sensitive links in the examination chain, the digitisation of answer sheets and their onscreen marking (OSM), was recently disqualified from a similar contract by Kannur University in Kerala over what the university termed the non-disclosure of a pending criminal proceeding. Experts questioned how the CBSE accepted Coempt’s declaration.

Documents reviewed by TOI show that Coempt submitted a mandatory declaration claiming a “clean track record” and certifying that no criminal or civil proceedings were pending against it. However, while evaluating bids for its end-to-end answer-book digitisation and digital evaluation contract, Kannur University’s tender committee found that the declaration was not consistent with the status of Criminal Petition (CRLP) No. 696/2019, which remains pending before the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

The committee’s findings concluded that the company’s declaration was “not in conformity” with official court records and that the non-disclosure of the pending criminal proceeding amounted to “suppression of material facts”. Such non-disclosure, the committee observed, affected “the integrity of the procurement process”.

The university upheld Coempt’s disqualification after examining the company’s declaration, court records and two separate clarification replies submitted by the bidder. According to committee records, the company itself acknowledged in a clarification dated Feb 18, 2026, that the matter was “technically shown as pending” before the court.

The committee was also unconvinced by the company’s reliance on an arbitral award. It held that the award arose from separate arbitration proceedings and could not be treated as a judicial order disposing of or quashing the criminal petition. “No High Court order evidencing disposal or quashing of CRLP No. 696/2019 has been placed before the committee,” the findings noted.

Having concluded that the company had failed to satisfy a mandatory eligibility condition, the committee unanimously decided to disqualify Coempt from further participation in the tender process. The company was consequently not invited to make a technical presentation.

The development assumes significance because Coempt continues to handle answer-sheet digitisation and onscreen evaluation work for the CBSE.

Procurement records from 2021 show that the company has participated in 52 govt tenders worth a cumulative Rs 129.5 crore and secured 12 contracts valued at Rs 75.5 crore. Maharashtra accounts for the largest share of its bidding activity with 21 tenders, followed by Tamil Nadu.

Documents with TOI show that barring a single Maharashtra contract worth approximately Rs 61 crore, the company has not secured any other tender valued above Rs 5 crore.