At least 39 Higher Secondary candidates received admit cards either on Monday night or on Tuesday morning, hours before the examinations began.

Debasish Sarkar, secretary, West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Examination, said the institutions the candidates belonged to were responsible for the delay.

?We steadfastly followed our stand of not issuing admit cards against forms submitted late. We did not receive the forms of some continuing candidates (CCs) and special candidates (SCs) in time, and hence, didn?t issue their admit cards,? he explained.

It was learnt that the CCs and SCs moved the high court over the issue. ?We didn?t contest the CCs plea, but opposed the petition of the SCs,? Sarkar said.

The council came to know that the delay in submission of the forms of the CCs was due to negligence of the institutions, and not the students.

?So we decided to issue admit cards to the CCs. In the case of the SCs, the court requested us to consider their cases,? the council secretary added.

Twenty-two students of Bijoygarh Jyotish Chandra Roy College in south Calcutta got their admit cards around 9 pm on Monday.

?Theirs was a special case. An employee of the institution stole the registration money two years ago. The employee is absconding,? Sarkar explained.

On Monday afternoon, the council received a directive from the high court requesting it to consider the case of the students.

?On Monday evening, we held a top-level meeting and decided that the students shouldn?t suffer because of the misdeed of one person. We prepared their admit cards immediately,? the council secretary said.

?The employee collected the fees from the students during the registration procedure but didn?t submit it,? a police officer confirmed.