Former Adarsh Vidya Niketan School student Sandeep Kumar went through a lot after the CBSE withheld Class X board results of 176 candidates in 2015 because of incomplete paperwork, but today he is a happy boy.

His happiness stems from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) action taken against some officials of the school and regional CBSE officials because of whom the future of these students was at stake.

"I approached the district education officer in 2015 with my problem and could appear for the 2016 Class X board exam under the Bihar School Examination Board," said Sandeep. "The incident with my former school was a blot on my academic career. I moved to Bhubaneswar and got admission here in ICom."

"I will be happier if schools like AVN Public School are shut down. Before admitting their wards to any school, parents should check whether the school is affiliated or not."

The Rajiv Nagar school's affiliation to the CBSE ended in 2013 but by then, 388 Class IX students were registered with the board for the 2015 Class X exams. However, 176 students were left in the lurch in 2015 when the CBSE withheld their results for invalid documents allegedly submitted by the school and the regional CBSE office.

CBI took up the probe under direction of the Patna High Court. It filed an FIR, a copy of which was submitted to the special CBI court on Monday, against former principal Malti Sinha and manager Ram Sumer Singh and three employees of the CBSE regional office connected with the fraud.

Several of the 176 students ended up losing a year.

Another boy in Sandeep's batch said: "I struggled a lot to get my result. I got hurt in the protest students had organised, and later we knew that nobody was going to help us. I even filled an online form for on-demand exam conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling but they allotted the exam centre at Delhi. It was not possible for me to leave Patna as my family was going through a tough phase. Remembering all those moments still brings tears to my eyes. I appeared for the Class X exam in 2016 from the Bihar board and got 70 per cent."

The boy now studies in a government school in Delhi and is preparing for engineering. "I am happy that the culprits have been caught. They should be punished for jeopardising our career. I hope no students face such a situation that we went through."

Sangeeta, a resident of Boring Road whose daughter was one of the 176 students, said: "I along with other students and Public Schools and Children Welfare Association protested outside the school and the CBSE regional office but everything was in vain. The school administration told us that it was the fault of the board's regional office. The board officials told us the school had submitted wrong documents. No matter whose fault it was, our kids were the ones who suffered."