Many parents have faced this problem from schools & institutions which refuse to return original documents submitted at the time of admissions if later their wards wanted to withdraw after getting entry into a better-placed school. The High Court Orissa has deprecated this practice & warned the institutions against retention of original certificates.
That the problem existed even in private medical colleges was something new for the High Court. After passing out from a private medical college, a student sought return of his original documents - High School Certificate & mark sheet, Council of Higher Secondary examination certificate & mark sheet, MBBS mark-sheets, Internship completion certificate, College leaving Certificate, Conduct Certificate, Odisha Council of Medical Registration certificate - submitted by him at the time of admission in PG. course in the Hi-Tech Medical College & Hospital.
He also sought issuance of the necessary certificates for the PG course which he completed from the institutions in May. But, riled by the student joining another private medical college as a senior resident, the institution played truant & made many excuses, including non-payment of certain fees & outstanding dues, to refuse return of the certificates & issue PG certificate.
"The institution is duty bound to release the original certificates entrusted at the time of admission, unless there is specific undertaking; or bond of compulsory employment at the said institute; or any other rule or regulation which permits them to retain the same. In the case in hand, there is no such provision which has been brought to our notice either in the prospectus issued by the Commissioner of Entrance Examination or the College or in any of the notification issued with respect to the admission by the said College which enable it to withhold such certificates," said a bench of Justice S Panda & Justice S K Panigrahi.
Referring to repeated warnings issued by the University Grant Commission (UGC) & All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to educational institution against harassing students through retention of original certificates, the bench said, "the practice of withholding original Certificates of the students & not returning them to the students is completely illegal as the certificates are the most valuable property of the students, it cannot be withheld by the college for any reasons, in violation of rule of law".
"Withholding of the hard earned certificates of students, at the whims & fancies of colleges, do not portray a good picture of the education system in the country," it said, directing the institution to return the certificates within a week.
"The certificate of educational qualifications are the most important document in so far as the career of the student is concerned & it is the most valuable property of students. Non-availability of such certificates or delay in producing the same may result in deleterious consequences in so far as the career of the students are concerned because these are the first & foremost documents insisted by a college or an employer," it said.
Source Link
Picture Source :