LIYA BELLIAPPA Vs. CBSE UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner, a student of the Lawrence Public School, Lovedale (The Nilgiris), Tamil Nadu seeks a Writ of Mandamus and/or any other direction to respondent No.1-Central Board of Secondary Education to permit her to appear in class XII examination of respondent No.1 Board to be held in March, 2002 and quash the letter dated 21/ 28/11/2001 issued by it defining permission to her to take the aforesaid examination.

(2.) The petitioner's case, briefly put, is that she is a regular student of Lawrence Public School, Lovedale (Nilgiris) Tamil Nadu and had taken her class X examination conducted by respondent No.1 in the year 2000. She could not clear her paper in "Kannada" in the said examination the results of which were announced in June, 2000. According to' the bye-law No.48 of respondent No.1 Board, a candidate placed in compartment may reappear at the compartmental examination to be held in July/August and may also avail of the second chance in March/April next year. According to this Rule, the candidate will be declared passed provided he/she qualifies the compartmental examination but the candidate who does not appear or fails, shall be treated to have failed in the examination and shall be required to reappear in all the subjects at the subsequent annual examination of the Board. According to the petitioner, after the results of her examination for class X, she was granted admission to class XI along with other students who had passed the class X examination. She took her first chance in the compartmental examination in August, 2000 but could not clear the paper and as such, being entitled to take the second chance in compartmental examination she took the same again in March, 2001. In the meanwhile, she passed her class XI examination and was promoted to class XII. A certificate for having passed class XI was issued to her by the school. She cleared compartmental examination also. Thus, she had cleared her all the papers prescribed for class X and was issued a "Passed" certificate for class X also by respondent No.1. She was promoted to Class XII and .was doing well in her class XII Unit Test examinations. She had fulfilled all essential requirements to appear in the class XII Board examinations to be held in March, 2002. The School wrote a letter to respondent No.1 to permit her to take the class XII Board Examinations'but the respondent No.1 vide its letter dated 9th of August, 2001 and 21st 21/11/2001 took a stand that the petitioner could not be permitted to take class XII examination to be held in March, 2002. According to respondent No.1, the petitioner's request for permission to appear in class Xllth examination was not in conformity with the rules and as such, could not be allowed. Contending that the Rule 42, giving two opportunities to a candidate to clear the compartmental examination, was enacted with the object of preventing loss of an academic year to the students, the petitioner asserts that the decision of the C.B.S.E.-respondent No.1 is unjust, unfair, arbitrary and in violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.

(3.) The respondent No. 1 filed an affidavit of its Secretary according to whom the continuance of the petitioner in class XI after she failed to clear her compartmental examination in the first attempt was in violation of the rules in as much as a candidate who does not clear compartmental examination at the first chance, does not remain eligible to continue in class XI. It is submitted that after the amendment of Rule 42, new sub-clause (VI) has been added to Rule 42 according to which a candidate who is placed in compartment and fails to pass at the first chance of compartmental examination can not be admitted to class XI. It is submitted that since the petitioner failed to clear her compartmental examination at the first chance, her provisional admission to class XI stood cancelled and she could not be promoted to class XII by the school. It is pleaded that the School which was affiliated to respondent Board was under an obligation to follow its examination bye-laws and in case the bye-laws are not followed, no benefit can be given to a student who has been admitted in violation thereof. It is also submitted that the petitioner could not appear in class XII examination to be held in 2002 as there was no two years' gap between her clearing the class X examination and taking class XII examination because she had qualified class X examination in May, 2001 only upon clearing her compartmental examination.