ANKIT GAUTAM Vs. CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner applied for the All India Pre-Medical/Dental Entrance Examination, to be held in April 2007. His application form was submitted on 18.01.2006. The application was incomplete inasmuch as the same had not been attested by the Head of the Institution/ Gazetted Officer. A letter was issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education on 23.12.2003 to the petitioner indicating that his application form No. 501390 for appearing in the All India Pre-Medical /Pre-Dental Entrance Examination, 2007, to be held on 01.04.2007, on scrutiny, was found to be not attested by the Head of the Institution/ Gazetted Officer. For this reason, the petitioner's application was rejected and it was also noted that no further correspondence would be entertained in this matter.

(2.) The petitioner submits that the only lacuna in the application was that, through inadvertence, he did not get the same signed by the Head of the Institution or by a Gazetted Officer. He submits that the photograph, which was affixed on the front page of the application form, was undoubtedly attested by a gazetted officer but the attestation of the Head of the Institution was not taken on the reverse of the form. He submits that this is a mere technical omission and the same ought to have been condoned.

(3.) The learned counsel appearing on behalf of the CBSE submits that the attestation by the Head of the Institution is necessary because without this attestation, there is no verification or confirmation of the particulars of the student. The attestation itself is in the following words:- "This is to attest that the particulars given in this Application Form including Name, Photograph, Address, Category, Date of Birth, Year of Qualifying Examination and Signature are, to the best of my knowledge and belief, correct."