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2024 Supreme(Del) 430
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
C. Hari Shankar, J.
Khushi Pratap Singh - Appellant
Versus
Central Board of Secondary Education & Ors. - Respondents
W.P.(C) 2614 of 2024 and CM APPL. No. 10739 of 2024
Decided On : 21-02-2024
Mr. Sandeep Sharma, Mr. Sahil Mongia, Mr. Shahil Rao, Ms. Kavya Dauk, Mr. Abhishek Yadav, Mr. Quasar Khan and Ms. Divya Sharma, Advocates, for the Petitioner.
Mr. Sanjay Khanna, Standing Counsel with Ms. Pragya Bhushan, Mr. Karandeep Singh and Mr. Tarandeep Singh, Advocates, for the Respondents.
IMPORTANT POINT
Efforts to comply with requirements and circumstances beyond control should be considered in determining disqualification.
Headnote:
Right to appear in Class XII board examination - CBSE - Notice dated 5 September 2023 - Article 226 of the Constitution of India - G.P. Ceramics Pvt Ltd v. Commissioner, Trade Tax, (2009)2 SCC 90
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a female student, sought to appear in the Class XII examination held by the CBSE but was initially denied due to failure to upload a domicile certificate as per CBSE instructions.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the petitioner's application for the domicile certificate and the subsequent failure to upload it were not deliberate, and she should not be disentitled from appearing in the examination.
Issues: The main issue was whether the petitioner's failure to upload the domicile certificate should disqualify her from appearing in the examination.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the petitioner's efforts to obtain the domicile certificate before the examination and the inability to upload it due to circumstances beyond her control should not disqualify her.
Final Decision: The petitioner was permitted to appear in her Class XII CBSE examination.
JUDGMENT (Oral)
1. This case relates to the right of the petitioner to appear in the Class XII board examination to be conducted by the CBSE tomorrow i.e. on 22 February 2024.
2. The issue in controversy is short.
3. Mr. Sanjay Khanna, learned counsel for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), has, on instructions, stated that the Court can proceed to decide the matter on the basis of the oral submissions advanced by him without his having to file any counter- affidavit. As such, I have heard learned counsel for the parties and have proceeded to decide the matter.
4. The petitioner is a girl student, who seeks to appear in the All India Senior Secondary (Class XII) examination held by the CBSE, scheduled to start tomorrow i.e. on 22 February 2024.
5. The CBSE has admittedly issued specific instructions, vide Notice dated 5 September 2023, to be followed by female students, who seek to appear as private candidates to undertake the Class X and Class XII examinations. The relevant part of the said instructions read as under:
"p). The submission of forms for examination has been made fully online. Accordingly, it is informed that a hard copy of the form is not required to be sent to CBSE. However, following is intimated:
1. Female students who are bona fide residents of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and have attained the age for appearing in Class X shall upload the copy of the Domicile Certificate issued by the appropriate authority when submitting online application form."
6. Female students who desire to appear as private candidates in the CBSE Class XII examinations, were, therefore, required to upload alongwith their application forms for appearing in the examinations, a domicile certificate, certifying that they are residents of Delhi.
7. On 16 February 2024, I had an occasion to deal with the aforesaid instruction in two writ petitions. They were W.P.(C) 2374/2024 (Vishakha & Ors. v. The Controller of Examination, Central Board of Secondary Education & Ors.) and W.P.(C) 2375/2024 (Priyanka Darshi v. Central Board of Secondary Education & Anr.).
8. W.P.(C) 2374/2024 pertained to 20 students, who had never applied for obtaining a domicile certificate till the filing of the writ petition before this Court. W.P.(C) 2375/2024 was filed by a student who, though she had not applied for obtaining domicile certificate prior to uploading the application form on 05 September 2023, had applied for obtaining a domicile certificate on 12 February 2024, and had obtained the domicile certificate on 13 February 2024.
9. In these circumstances, I had held that as the CBSE had, as far back as on 5 September 2023, clearly made all the female students, undertaking the Class XII CBSE examination as private candidates, aware of the necessity of uploading the domicile certificate, the petitioners in the two writ petitions could not be granted any relief as the 20 petitioners in W.P.(C) 2374/2024 had, till the filing of the writ petition, never even applied for obtaining a domicile certificate and the petitioner in W.P.(C) 2375/2024 had applied for obtaining a domicile certificate only on 12 February 2024 just before filing of the writ petition before this Court. As such, the said writ petitioners who, being conscious and aware of the requirement of the uploading the domicile certificate never even made attempts to obtain domicile certificate, much less upload it, could not get any equitable relief from this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
10. The case of the present petitioner, however, is markedly different. She in fact applied on the morning of 20 September 2023 for obtaining a domicile certificate and, along with the application form for appearing in the examination, which was uploaded by her on the same day, also uploaded the receipt evidencing the submission of the application by her for obtaining the domicile certificate. She received the domicile certificate on 23 September 2023. These facts are not in dispute.
