2022 Supreme(P&H) 1270
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
Sudhir Mittal, J.
Mehakdeep Kaur & Ors. – Appellants
Versus
State Of Haryana & Ors. – Respondents
CWP No. 19780 of 2021
Decided On : 10-01-2022
Mr. Vikram Singh, Advocate and Mr. Sandeep Kumar, Advocate, for the Appellants; Mr. Pankaj Midda, Additional Advocate General, Haryana; Mr. K.K. Gupta, Advocate, for respondent No.4; Mr. Sandeep Siwach, Advocate, for respondent No.6.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the actions of the Board in quashing the students' results were illegal and void, citing violation of Examination Rules and Regulations of the Board, specifically Regulation 61 and Regulation 60.
Headnote:
Court's Comment - School Students - Examination Rules and Regulations of the Board - Regulation 61, Regulation 60 - The court commented on the actions of the Board in quashing the students' results, citing violation of Examination Rules and Regulations of the Board, specifically Regulation 61 and Regulation 60. The court held that the students were entitled to take the examination after being transferred to the Government school and that the quashing of the result was illegal and void.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners, school students, had their final results quashed by the Board of School Education Haryana after being transferred from a private school to a Government school due to withdrawal of recognition of the private school. The Board quashed the result without granting an opportunity of hearing to the students.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the students were entitled to take the examination after being transferred to the Government school and that the quashing of the result by the Board was illegal and void. The court allowed the writ petition and quashed the impugned orders, directing the results to be declared afresh.
Issues: The issues included the validity of the students' admission in Classes X and XII after the withdrawal of recognition of the private school, the genuineness of the internal assessment marks and practical tests, and the legality of the Board's action in quashing the students' results.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the students were entitled to take the examination after being transferred to the Government school and that the quashing of the result by the Board was illegal and void. The court also emphasized the importance of granting an opportunity of hearing to the students before taking any action.
Final Decision: The writ petition was allowed, and the impugned orders quashing the students' results were set aside. The court directed the results to be declared afresh in accordance with the result declared on 31.08.2021.
JUDGMENT
Sudhir Mittal, J. - This judgment shall decide CWP Nos.19780, 20299 and 20308 of 2021 as common questions of fact and law arise therein. The petitioners in all three cases are school students whose final result of Class-X/Class XII respectively has been quashed by the Board of School Education Haryana- respondent No.4 (hereinafter referred to as the Board) after the same was declared. CWP No.19780 of 2021 has been preferred by students of Class-XII whereas the other two petitions have been preferred by the students of Class-X.
2. Should a Court of law comment on the actions of an Administrator, is one of the questions which arises in this writ petition. In my considered opinion if the Administrator does not exercise his powers judiciously and prudently and the same results in injustice, the Court can certainly comment on the actions, so as to make them aware about the expectations from such Administrators especially when they are dealing with young students who comprise the bulk of the human resource of the nation.
3. The facts in brief as extracted from CWP No.19780 of 2021 are that Haryana Senior Secondary School-respondent No.6 (hereinafter referred to as the private school) has been running since 1995-96. It started functioning with temporary affiliation with the Board which was converted to permanent affiliation upto Class-VIII in the year 2002. In the year 2003, the said private school applied for permanent affiliation upto Class XII but due to lack of adequate infrastructure in terms of area available, buildings and hygiene norms, permanent affiliation was not granted. Temporary affiliation was, however, granted on a year-to-year basis upto academic year 2019-2020. On 05.09.2019, the State of Haryana passed an order withdrawing recognition to the private school and automatically its affiliation with the Board came to an end. The petitioners took admission in Class-XII and Class X respectively after 01.04.2020 and the result in question pertains to the Session 2020-21. On conclusion of the academic session, normal off-line exams could not be held on account of Covid-19 pandemic. The matter was being considered at the highest level when on 10.06.2021, the Director, Secondary Education Haryana wrote to the District Education Officer, Panipat that application for provisional affiliation of the private school had been rejected by the competent officer on 30.03.2021 and keeping in view the interests of the students, they be transferred to the nearby Government school. A copy of this letter is on record as Annexure P-1 and the same has been endorsed to the Board as well.
4. Consequently, the students were transferred to Government Model Senior Secondary School, Samalkha-respondent No.5 (hereinafter referred to as the Government school). The fee deposited by the students was also transferred as is evidenced by the document Annexure P-2. Thereafter, their applications for the final examination were submitted by the Government school to the Board and the same were accepted. The names of the petitioners were included in the checklist of regular students dated 18.08.2021 issued by the Board. Before that, on 02.07.2021, the Board issued a notification regarding policy for declaration of result of Senior Secondary Examination, according to which, the result of Class-XII was to be declared by considering 30% marks of Class-X, 10% marks of Class-XI and 60% marks of Class-XII based upon internal valuation and practical examination. Based on this notification, the result of the petitioners was declared on 31.08.2021. Subsequently, the Board issued communication dated 24.09.2021, copy Annexure P-9 stating that the result of the petitioners had been quashed and that they would be required to take off- line examination from 04-10-2021 to 13-10-2021. This communication was addressed to the Principal of the Government School. The said school responded vide communication dated 27.09.2021 requesting for withdrawal of the decision but to no