GOVERNING BODY JAMBESWAR Vs. COUNCIL OF HIGHER SECONDARY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner, Governing Body of Jambeswar Mahavidyalaya in the district of Balasore, calls in question the decision of the Council of Higher Secondary Education, Orissa in Notification dated 25.6.2004 cancelling the examination held in English Paper II in second sitting of Higher Secondary Examination, 2004 on 11.3.2004 on the ground that there was no material before the Examination Committee to come to a conclusion that either there was mass malpractice in the center or the examination in the center on the relevant date was not conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Council.

(2.) THE brief fact of the case is that the petitioner -college was permitted to be established from the academic session 1995 -96 by the Government and it was affiliated by the Council from the said session and permanent recognition was also accorded. 107 regular students of the petitioner -college appeared in +2 Arts Final Examination, 2004 as per the date and time schedule fixed by the Council of Higher Secondary Education, Orissa. It is claimed that the examinees appeared at the examination and the examination was conducted by the Center Superintendent strictly in accordance with the norms prescribed by the Council. There was absolutely no malpractice nor any such malpractice was ever detected during the second sitting of the examination in English Paper -II on 11.3.2004. However, it is submitted that one Gourahari Behera, Lecturer in History of Atalbihari College, Basudevpur visited the center on 9.3.2004 as observer and invigilated the examination of English Paper -I. The examination was found to have been conducted in accordance with the norms prescribed by the Council. On 11.3.2004, one Pratap Kumar Nayak, Lecturer in History of Atalbihari College, Basudevpur visited the center as an observer of the Council when English Paper -II was being conducted during the second sitting. He thoroughly checked each student with the help of invigilators and Center Superintendent and remained throughout the examination. No student was detected to have indulged in adoption of unfair means or possessing neither incriminating materials nor any such students was booked for malpractice. However, it is alleged that the Examination Committee of the Council, on the basis of the purported report submitted by the observer, had illegally taken a decision to cancel the said examination and awarded "Of" mark in English Paper -II. The Council has notified so in Annexure -1. The Principal, soon after the notification appealed to the Council that absolutely no malpractice having been done nor detected by the Supervisor nor the Supervisor having found any irregularity or illegality in the conduct of examination, the cancellation of the examination center was bad and liable to be revised. However, nothing having happened, on the representation of the petitioner, it has approached this Court in the present Writ Petition.

(3.) IN order to see for ourselves, we had called upon the Council to produce the report of the observer on the basis of which the Examination Committee of the Council has taken a drastic decision to cancel the examination held in the Center during the second sitting of 11.3.2004 i.e. English Paper -II. The report in original has been produced for our perusal. Perusal of the report shocks our conscience as to how a responsible body like the Examination Committee of the Council has been dealing with the cases of mass malpractice. No doubt, it is true that it is high time that the Council should rise to the occasion to stop the menace of malpractice and mass malpractice sometimes at the instance of the colleges. But before a decision is taken to cancel the examination, the examining authority must scrutinize the reports in its proper perspective and when it is satisfied that the examination has not been conducted in accordance with the rules and norms prescribed and the examinees have resorted to mass copying and as such, the examination is vitiated, in that situation only the drastic step of cancellation is to be taken.