PRANAB KUMAR DAS Vs. THE STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE short question involved in this petition is whether the petitioner has qualified the Class -XII examination and is, therefore, entitled to get admission in the first year B.Sc. (Hon's) Agricultural Course at the College of Agriculture, Lembucherra in the current academic session as an in -service candidate against the seat reserved for Scheduled Caste.

(2.) AT the outset, it may be stated that it is not disputed that the petitioner belongs to the Scheduled Caste community and is an in service candidate. The petitioner had passed the Madhyamik (10th standard) examination from the Tripura Board of Secondary Education in the year 1995. He cleared the Higher Secondary (10 + 2 stage) examination from the Tripura Board of Secondary Education in the year 2000. He, however, had not done science in the Class -XII examination. He thereafter obtained B. Com degree from the Tripura University in the year 2006.

(3.) THE State did not permit the petitioner to appear for counseling on the ground that the mark sheet produced by him is not equivalent to Higher Secondary (+ 2 stage) examination. One of the grounds raised is that the petitioner had taken admission in the Class -XII course prior to his obtaining permission from the employer and the second ground is that the course in question is not of two years duration since the petitioner admittedly joined the course on 19th February, 2013 and cleared the course in April, 2014. The respondents relied upon a letter of the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). The relevant portion of the letter reads as follows: