STATE OF U P Vs. JAGDISH T LALWANI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS special appeal is directed against an order of a learned Single Judge dated December 22, 1971 in Civil Misc. Writ No. 4669 of 1971. The respondent passed his VIII Standard Exa mination in December, 1967 from the St. Joseph High School, Allahabad. Thereafter he discontinued his studies in the aforesaid school and appeared in the High School Examination held in March/April 1969 as a private candidate. It seems, taking the view that the respondent was not entitled to ap pear in the said examination his result was withheld by the Board and he was in formed that unless he obtained exemption from the State Government under Sec tion 9 (4) of the U. P. Intermediate Educa tion Act (hereinafter referred to as Act) his result could not be declared. The respon dent thereafter made numerous representa tions to the State Government but without any success. He then filed the aforesaid writ petition for quashing of the orders of the State Government refusing to grant ex emption to him and for a mandamus di recting the Secretary, Board of High School and Intermediate Education to declare his result. He also made a prayer for a manda mus commanding the State Government to grant the necessary exemption after consi dering his various applications made in this behalf. The writ petition was allowed by a learned Single Judge on December 22, 1971 whereby the Secretary, Board of High School and Intermediate Education was directed to declare the result of the res pondent's examination. Aggrieved the State Government of Uttar Pradesh and the Sec retary, Board of High School and Interme diate Education have filed the present ap peal.

(2.) THE learned Standing Counsel has reiterated his submission which was made before the learned Single Judge, viz., that the respondent was not entitled to appear in the High School Examination held in March/April 1969. In support of his conten tion he has placed reliance upon Regulation 10 (i) (a) (i) (g) and Regulation 11 of the Regulations framed under the Act as also upon the definition of the words "academic year" or "academical year" as contained in Chapter I of the said Regulations. The word "academic year" has been de fined as under:

(3.) IN paragraph 2 of the writ peti tion it has been stated that it was com mon practice that after passing VIII Stan dard in December of any year, a student joins IX Class in January of succeeding year and appears in High School Examination conducted by the Board of High School and Intermediate Education in the month of March/April of year succeeding next to the year of his passing VIII Standard as a regu lar student or a private student. Sri Har Prasad Tewari, Deputy Secretary of the Board of High School and Intermediate Edu cation, U. P., Allahabad, has filed a counter-affidavit, in paragraph 4 whereof he has ad mitted that after passing Standard VIII from any Anglo-Indian Institution recognis ed by the Education Department in the month of December of any year if a stu dent joins Class IX in any institution re cognised by the Board in January of the succeeding year and passes Class IX Exa mination in May/June he would be eligible to appear in the High School Examination ofi the succeeding year as a private or regular candidate.