Anju.M vs The Controller Of Examinations
2021 Latest Caselaw 16213 Ker

          IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
                             PRESENT
               THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE T.R.RAVI
 WEDNESDAY, THE 4TH DAY OF AUGUST 2021 / 13TH SRAVANA, 1943
                     WP(C) NO. 10521 OF 2021
PETITIONER:

         ANJU M.
         AGED 27 YEARS
         D/O. MAYILVAHANAN, USHUS, PALACE WARD,
         KAYAMKULAM P.O. ALAPUZHA DISTRICT 690 502.
         BY ADVS.
         C.RAJENDRAN
         SRI.B.K.GOPALAKRISHNAN


RESPONDENTS:

    1    THE CONTROLLER OF EXAMINATIONS
         CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION,
         SHIKSHA KENDRA, 2 COMMUITY CENTRE, PREET VIHAR,
         NEW DELHI 110 301.
    2    CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION,
         1630 J BLOCK, 16TH MAIN ROAD, ANNA NAGAR WEST,
         CHENNAI 600040, REPRESENTED BY ITS REGIONAL
         MANAGER.
    3    THE PRINCIPAL,
         SREE NARAYANA CENTRAL SCHOOL, KAYAMKULAM P.O.
         ALAPUZHA DISTRICT 690 502.
    4    REGIONAL MANAGER,
         CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, BLOCK-B,
         2ND FLOOR, LIC DIVISIONAL OFFICE CAMPUS, PATTOM,
         THIRUVANANTHAPURAM 695 004.
         BY ADV SRI.NIRMAL S., SC, CBSE


     THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION
ON 04.08.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE
FOLLOWING:
 W.P.(C)No.10521 of 2021
                                           :-2-:

                          Dated this the 4th day of August, 2021


                                    JUDGMENT

The petitioner completed her class X from the 3 rd respondent

school, which is affiliated to the 2nd respondent Board (hereinafter

referred to as, 'CBSE') in 2010 and her Class XII from the same

school in 2012. The name and the date of birth of the petitioner are

shown in the school records as "Anchu M" and "03.03.1994"

respectively. Her mother's name is shown in the school records as

"Usha Murugan" and her father's name is shown as "Murugan P.".

According to the petitioner, her name and date of birth are actually

"Anju M." and "04.03.1994" respectively, and the names of her mother

and father are "Usha Mayilvahanan" and "Mayilvahanan" respectively

and the mistake occurred at the time of initially admitting her in school.

Even though the petitioner requested for effecting the necessary

correction in the school records and the CBSE records, the same was

returned by the school authorities stating that the request cannot be

forwarded to the CBSE having regard to the Byelaw 69.2. The

petitioner challenges Ext.P7 in this writ petition and prays for W.P.(C)No.10521 of 2021 :-3-:

directions to effect necessary changes in the school records and the

CBSE records.

2. Heard Sri C.Rajendran, the learned counsel for the

petitioner and Sri Nirmal S., the Standing counsel for the CBSE.

3. The question relating to correction of the records of the

CBSE was considered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Jigya Yadav

v. Central Board of Secondary Education reported in 2021 (3) KLT

711(SC). The Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that the CBSE cannot

Act as a Court. The Hon'ble Supreme Court further held that the

courts can consider the genuineness of the claim put forward by the

students on the basis of public documents relied on by them and can

adjudicate on the justiciability of the claim. The Hon'ble Supreme

Court set out a scheme in the judgment and held that all existing and

future cases are to be considered on the basis of the scheme, till the

CBSE amended the Byelaws and notified the same in tune with the

directions on the judgment. The Hon'ble Supreme Court held that

once the Court decides on the issue, the CBSE need not make any

further enquiry and no further verification is also required. In W.P.(C)No.10521 of 2021 :-4-:

paragraph 152 of the judgment, the Hon'ble Supreme Court held that

public documents like Birth Certificate, Official Gazette, Aadhaar Card,

Election Card, etc., enjoy legal presumption of its correctness in terms

of explicit provisions contained in Chapter V of the 1872 Act and that

even other legislations concerning public documents attach equal

importance to the authenticity of such documents including while

making changes in their certificates to which the Court had referred to

in the judgment. On the above reasoning the Hon'ble Supreme Court

held that there is no reason for the CBSE not to take notice of the

public documents relied upon by the candidate and to make

necessary changes in the certificate issued by it, for being consistent

with the public documents relied upon, even if such documents are

not entirely consistent with the school records of the incumbent.

Dealing with the role of writ Courts, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in

paragraph 156 of the judgment held that when a student approaches

a Court of law for a declaration producing public documents, the Court

would enter upon an inquiry wherein the legal presumption would

operate in favour of the public documents and burden would shift on W.P.(C)No.10521 of 2021 :-5-:

the party opposing the change, to rebut the presumption or oppose

the claim on any other ground. The Hon'ble Supreme Court held that

the question of genuineness of the document including its contents is

to be adjudicated by the Court and on being satisfied of the

genuineness of the documents, the Court can grant its permission for

making the correction/change, which can then be placed before the

CBSE, which would then have no locus to make further enquiry nor

would be required to enter upon any further verification exercise.

4. In the case on hand, Exhibit P1 is the Birth Certificate

issued by the Registrar of Births and Deaths, Pandalam Panchayat,

which certifies that as per the information contained in the original

record of birth register for the said Panchayat, the date of birth of the

petitioner is "4.3.1994" and that the name of the petitioner is "Anju".

The names of the father and mother of the petitioner are shown as

"Mayilvahanan" and "Usha Mayilvahanan" respectively. Ext.P4

Passport issued to the petitioner shows her name as "Anju", her date

of birth as "4.3.1994" and the names of her mother and father as

"Usha Mayilvahanan" and "Pazhani Achary Mayilvahanan" W.P.(C)No.10521 of 2021 :-6-:

respectively. Ext.P5 which is the one and the same certificate issued

by the Tahsildar, Karthikappally, certifies that "Mayilvahanan" and

"Murugan P" are one and same person. Ext.P8 one and the same

Certificate issued by Mulakkuzha Village Office, shows that "Anju M."

and "Anju" are one and same person. Ext.P9 one and the same

certificate issued by the Mulakkuzha Village Office shows that "Usha"

and "Usha Mayilvahanan" are one and same person. Exts.P1, P4, P5,

P8 and P9 documents are public documents and there is a legal

presumption of their correctness and there is no reason to doubt their

authenticity. There is neither any contra evidence available in the case

to doubt the authenticity nor any evidence to rebut the presumption

regarding the correctness of the said documents. In the above

circumstances, it is declared that the name of the petitioner is

"Anju M.", that her date of birth is "4.3.1994", that her mother's name

is "Usha Mayilvahanan" and her father's name is "Mayilvahanan". The

petitioner is hence entitled to have her name and date of birth and the

names of her mother and father corrected in the school records and in

the records of the CBSE.

W.P.(C)No.10521 of 2021 :-7-:

In the above circumstances, this Writ petition is allowed. The 3 rd

Respondent is directed to carry out the correction/change sought for

by the petitioner as regards her name, date of birth and the names of

her mother and father, in their records immediately and is further

directed to forward the application submitted by the petitioner for

correction in the CBSE records, to the authorised officer of the 2 nd

respondent, as expeditiously as possible, at any rate within thirty days

from the date of receipt of a copy of the judgment. The authorised

officer of the 2nd respondent shall thereupon make necessary changes

in their records, in accordance with the declaration made by this

Court.

All pending interlocutory applications are closed.

Sd/-

T.R.RAVI, JUDGE ami/ W.P.(C)No.10521 of 2021 :-8-:

APPENDIX OF WP(C) 10521/2021

PETITIONER EXHIBITS EXHIBIT P1 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE REGISTRAR, PANDALAM PANCHAYATH DATED 26/03/1994.

EXHIBIT P2 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE SECONDARY SCHOOL EXAMINATION CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY CONTROLLER OF EXAMINATIONS, CBSE DATED 28/05/2010.

EXHIBIT P3 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE SENIOR SCHOOL EXAMINATION CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY CONTROLLER OF EXAMINATIONS, CBSE DATED 28/05/2012.

EXHIBIT P4 THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE PASSPORT OF THE PETITIONER BEARING NUMBER - K 1058725 ISSUED BY REGIONAL PASSPORT OFFICER, COCHIN.

EXHIBIT P5 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE TAHSILDAR, KARTHIKAPPALLY DATED 11/06/2012.

EXHIBIT P6 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE APPLICATION GIVEN BY THE PETITIONER TO THE PRINCIPAL, SREE NARAYANA CENTRAL SCHOOL, KAYAMKULAM DATED 05/04/2021.

EXHIBIT P7 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE REPLY ISEUD BY THE PRINCIPAL, SREE NARAYANA CENTRAL SCHOOL, KAYAMKULAM DATED 12/04/2021.

EXHIBIT P8 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE VILLAGE OFFICER, MULAKKUZHA AND ITS TYPED COPY DATED 5.7.2021 OF THE PETITIONER W.P.(C)No.10521 of 2021 :-9-:

EXHIBIT P9 A TRUE PHOTOCOPY OF THE CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE VILLAGE OFFICER, MULAKKUZHA AND ITS TYPED COPY DATED 1.7.2021 OF THE PETITIONER'S MOTHER