Nehruji Central Hr. Sec School And ... vs Central Board Of Secondary ...
2012 Latest Caselaw 1357 Del

*           IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+           W.P.(C) 1167/2012 and CMs 2518-20/2012


                                             Decided on: 28th February, 2012
IN THE MATTER OF
NEHRUJI CENTRAL HR. SEC SCHOOL AND ANR                ..... Petitioners
                    Through: Mr. Sai Krishna Rajagopal, Mr. Hari
                    Shankar and Mr. Vikas Singh Jangra, Advocates
                    alongwith Ms.P. Ankayarkanni, Principal of
                    petitioner No.1/school and
                    Mr. P.M. Ramasamy, petitioner No.2 in person.

                    versus


CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION               ..... Respondent
                   Through: Mr. Amit Bansal, Advocate

CORAM
HON'BLE MS.JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI


HIMA KOHLI, J. (Oral)

1. The present petition is filed by the petitioners praying inter

alia for directions to the respondent/CBSE to consider the application

submitted by them to the respondent/CBSE for affiliation, on the ground

that petitioner No.1/school fulfills all the requirements of the

respondent/CBSE for grant of affiliation.

2. When the matter was taken up on the last date of hearing,

i.e., on 27.02.2012, counsel for the petitioners had stated on instructions

from his clients that the petitioners did not wish to press the present

petition as regards their claim for affiliation of petitioner No.1/school with

the respondent/CBSE, as they have already filed an application in this

regard and shall pursue the same with the respondent/CBSE directly.

However, the anxiety expressed by the petitioners is with regard to their

plea that special permission may be granted by the respondent/CBSE to

eleven students, who are required to appear in the class X examination

commencing on 02.03.2012 in the All India Secondary School

Examination 2012, as accorded by the respondent/CBSE on an earlier

occasion on 14/15.01.2010, to four students in the academic year 2009-

10. The details of the eleven students have been given in para 4 of CM

No.2518/2012 and at page (C) of the paper book.

3. It is stated by learned counsel for the petitioners that

petitioner No.1/school had made a representation to the

respondent/CBSE, requesting it to permit the aforesaid eleven students to

write their examinations in a school affiliated with the respondent/CBSE in

the vicinity of Shivagangai District for the examination to be held in

March-2012, but, the said request was turned down by the

respondent/CBSE vide letter dated 31.01.2012/01.02.2012, wherein

petitioner No.1/school was informed that its application for registration

had been rejected by the Board on 29.03.2010 and, therefore, the

question of sponsorship of the candidates studying in class X in the

petitioner No.1/school did not arise. The petitioner No.1/school was

further informed that it ought not to have started classes under the CBSE

pattern (class IX/X) without being granted affiliation by the Board.

4. It is admitted by the counsel for the petitioners that till date,

petitioner No.1/school has not been granted any affiliation by the

respondent/CBSE and that their application for affiliation is pending

consideration at the end of the respondent/CBSE. However, without

obtaining any affiliation, the petitioners proceeded to take in eleven

students in class X to appear in the All India Secondary School

Examination-2012. Learned counsel for the petitioners pleads that the

present petition may be treated as a mercy petition and without pressing

for the relief in the main writ petition, as a special case, permission may

be granted to the eleven students of class X to appear for the All India

Secondary School Examination-2012, failing which the said students, who

come from an economically and socially weaker section and are residents

of a remote rural area of the southern India, would stand to lose their one

academic year in the process, and they may not be made to suffer for the

fault of the petitioner No.1/school.

5. Ideally, the present petition ought to be rejected as

undoubtedly petitioner No.1/school ought not to have taken in any

students in class IX and X, knowing very well that it had not been granted

affiliation by the respondent/CBSE. It is also pertinent to note that in the

year 2010, in similar circumstances, when petitioner No.1/school was not

granted any affiliation by the respondent/CBSE, it had approached the

respondent/CBSE for the grant of special permission to four students of

class X studying in petitioner No.1/school for them to appear in the

AISSE-2010. In response to the aforesaid request, as a one time

exception, vide letter dated 08/10.12.2009 (Annexure P-2), the

respondent/CBSE had accommodated petitioner No.1/school by acceding

to its request for special permission for the aforesaid four students to

appear in the All India Secondary School Examination-2010 for class X

examination.

6. In this backdrop, it is apparent that the petitioner

No.1/school was well aware of the consequences of continuing to take in

students without having been granted affiliation with respondent/CBSE

and despite the same, it persisted with taking in students in Class IX and

X and thus, virtually played with their careers. The aforesaid conduct of

petitioner No.1/school deserves to be deprecated and the request made

by petitioner No.1/school at this eleventh hour to permit the eleven

students of class X to sit for the examinations, which are to commence

on 02.03.2012, ought to be turned down. However, having regard to the

fragile socio-economic background of the students in question who belong

to families of agriculturists and whose parents are not in a financial

position to take the burden of sustaining their education for an additional

year, which they presently stand to lose, as an exception made one last

time in respect of the eleven students studying in Class X in the petitioner

No.1/school, it is directed that the names of the aforesaid eleven students

shall be forwarded by the petitioner No.1/school forthwith to the Regional

Office of the respondent/CBSE at Chennai, alongwith the requisite fee/late

fee to be deposited by 29.02.2012. Upon petitioner No.1/school

submitting the list of candidates(LOC) to the Regional Office of the

respondent/CBSE at Chennai, necessary steps shall be taken by the

respondent/CBSE to process the said application in respect of the eleven

students, who shall then be accommodated in a nearby school for taking

the class X examinations-2012, that are to commence on 02.03.2012.

7. Counsel for the respondent/CBSE states on instructions that

the said eleven students can only be accommodated at Kendriya

Vidyalaya, Narimedu, Madurai (Centre No.4028), for which purpose, the

respondent/CBSE shall have to depute an officer from its head office at

Delhi to Narimedu,Madurai alongwith eleven sets of question papers,

subject to the condition that petitioner No.1/school shall bear the

expenses that shall be incurred by the said officer towards his traveling,

boarding and lodging. The aforesaid suggestion is accepted by the

counsel for the petitioners.

8. Accordingly, the present petition is disposed of on the

following terms and conditions:-

(i) The petitioner No.1/school shall take immediate steps to submit a

list of candidates (LOC) containing the names of the eleven

students, who shall be permitted to sit for the class X examinations-

2012, commencing from 02.03.2012.

(ii) Alongwith the aforesaid LOC to be submitted by petitioner

No.1/school at the Regional Office of the respondent/CBSE at

Chennai, it shall deposit the late fee/requisite fee with the

respondent/CBSE.

(iii) Respondent/CBSE shall process the application of the petitioner

No.1/school without losing any time and permit the eleven students

to take the class X examination w.e.f. 02.03.2012, at the

examination centre suggested by it and recorded in para 7

hereinabove.

(iv) All the eleven students of the petitioner No.1/school shall report at

the examination centre at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Narimedu, Madurai

(Centre No.4028) on 02.03.2012 and subsequent dates to take their

class X examinations.

(v) The expenses of the officer deputed by the respondent/CBSE to

travel from Delhi to Madurai on 28.02.2012 along with eleven sets

of question papers etc. shall be initially borne by the

respondent/CBSE who shall be reimbursed by petitioner No.1/school

immediately upon a bill being raised in that regard by the

respondent/CBSE.

(vi) The petitioners shall file an affidavit within two weeks in the present

proceeding undertaking inter alia that they shall take immediate

steps to relocate the remaining students studying in class IX in the

petitioner No.1/school to some other school affiliated with the

respondent/CBSE and further, that they shall not take in any further

students in class IX and X till the respondent/CBSE grants affiliation

to petitioner No.1/school. A copy of the affidavit shall be furnished

to the counsel for the respondent/CBSE within one week from the

date of filing thereof.

9. The present petition is disposed of alongwith the pending

applications while leaving the parties to bear their own costs. It is further

directed that this order shall not be treated as a precedent in any other

matter, as the same has been passed in the peculiar facts and

circumstances of the case.

DASTI to the parties under the signatures of the Private Secretary.

                                                             (HIMA KOHLI)
FEBRUARY 28, 2012                                               JUDGE
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