FIROZ KHAN Vs. SECRETARY BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A. K. Patnaik, C. J. This batch of writ petitions relates to eligibility of students who have passed the High School Certificate Examination (Class X) conducted by the madhya Pradesh State Open School, Bhopal in December, 2007 to appear in the Higher Secondary Examination of the Board of Secondary Education in

(2.) W. P. No. 270/2009, W. P. No. 1521/2009, W. P. No. 1881/2009, W. P. No. 1945/2009, W. P. No. 2423/2009, W. P. No. 2438/2009, W. P. No. 2448/2009 and W. P. No. 2644/2009 are writ petitions filed by students who have passed the high School Certificate Examination conducted by the Madhya Pradesh State open School, Bhopal in December, 2007 and W. P. No. 1705/2009 is a Public interest Litigation filed on behalf of the students. After the results of the High school Certificate Examination conducted by Madhya Pradesh State Open school, Bhopal were published on 14-4-2008, these students submitted applications to the Madhya Pradesh Board of Secondary Education (for short 'the Board') for taking the Higher Secondary School Examination (Class XII) in march, 2009 but their applications were rejected by the Board. Aggrieved, the petitioners have filed these writ petitions under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for appropriate reliefs.

(3.) IN its reply, the Board has taken a stand that the Madhya Pradesh state Open School is a highly flexible pattern of examination for which neither regular course of study is required nor the students are required to take admission in any school and under the State Open School system, several opportunities are available to the student and even if he may fail several times, he can appear under Open School pattern and is given as many as nine chances to pass High School Certificate Examination and this is entirely different from the High School Certificate Examination conducted by the Board. The Board has further taken a stand that Regulation 97 of the Board of Secondary education (Madhya Pradesh) Regulations, 1965 (for short 'the Regulations')made under sub-section (4) of Section 28 of the Madhya Pradesh Madhyamik shiksha Adhiniyam, 1965 provides that no student can be permitted to appear at the High School or Higher Secondary School Examination as a private student in a year earlier than that in which he would appear if he had continued his studies at a recognised institution and a student who continued his studies at a recognised institution has to complete two years after the High School in Class xi and Class XII before he takes the Higher Secondary School Examination conducted by the Board. The case of the Board is that since the students in the present batch of writ petitions have completed less than a year from the date of publication of the results of their High School Examinations on 14-4-2008, they are not eligible to take the Higher Secondary School Examination scheduled in march, 2009 under Regulation 97 of the Regulations.