Smtbhawana Gupta vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh
2023 Latest Caselaw 10416 MP

                                                             1
                           IN      THE       HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
                                                  AT JABALPUR
                                                    BEFORE
                                 HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE GURPAL SINGH AHLUWALIA
                                                   ON THE 10 th OF JULY, 2023
                                              WRIT PETITION No. 15670 of 2023

                          BETWEEN:-
                          SMTBHAWANA GUPTA W/O SHRI KAMAL KISHORE
                          GUPTA, AGED ABOUT 40 YEARS, OCCUPATION:
                          HOUSEWIFE R/O H NO 6 CHANDRA SHEKHAR AJAD
                          WARD TEHSIL AND DISTRICT KATNI (MADHYA
                          PRADESH)

                                                                                          .....PETITIONER
                          (BY SHRI BRAJESH KUMAR SHRIVASTAVA - ADVOCATE)

                          AND
                          1.     THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH THROUGH
                                 THE SECRETARY SCHOOL EDUCATION R/O
                                 VALLABH BHAWAN BHOPAL DISTRICT BHOPAL
                                 (MADHYA PRADESH)

                          2.     THE        COMMISSIONER LOK  SHISHAN
                                 SAN CHALN ALAYA GAUTAM NAGAR BHOPAL
                                 (MADHYA PRADESH)

                          3.     PROFESSIONAL EXAMINATION BOARD CHAYAN
                                 BHAWAN MAIN BHOPAL NO. 1 CHINAR PARK
                                 (EAST) BHOPAL (MADHYA PRADESH)

                                                                                       .....RESPONDENTS
                          (BY SHRI ROHIT JAIN - GOVERNMENT ADVOCATE)

                                 This petition coming on for admission this day, th e court passed the
                          following:
                                                              ORDER

This petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed seeking the following reliefs :-

"(i) To issue an appropriate writ/direction in regard to Signature Not Verified Signed by: KAFEEL AHMED ANSARI Signing time: 7/13/2023 1:13:40 PM

permit the petitioner to participate in selection proceeding for appointment of Middle School Teacher.

(ii) To permit the petitioner for participate the further coming selection of Middle School Teacher through illegibility test as petitioner is entitled for that as having E.W.S. Card to her credit.

(iii) Any other reliefs is provided to the petitioner according to circumstances of the case."

2. It is submitted by the counsel for the petitioner that the minimum qualifying proportionate marks as per the eligibility test is 79 whereas the petitioner had scored 78.78 marks, therefore, after rounding off the marks obtained by the petitioner, it should be taken as the petitioner has scored 79 marks.

3. The question involved in the present case is as to whether the rounding off

the marks is permissible or not.

4. The question is no more res integra.

5. The Division Bench of this Court in the case of Bhupendra Kumar Dubey Vs. State of Madhya Pradesh and others decided on 30.01.2020 in W.P. No.1977/2020 has held as under :-

"6. The orders passed in the cases of Jitendra Shukla (supra), Ku. Bhawna Mishra (supra) and also in Dharmendra Kumar Shrivastava (supra) as well as the letter (Annexure P-3) of the Additional Secretary are of no assistance for the petitioner in view of the various pronouncements of the Supreme Court on this issue. The Apex Court in the case of Orissa Public Service Commission and another Vs. Rupashree Chowdhary and another - (2011) 8 SCC 108, has held as under :-

"11. We may also draw support in this connection from a decision of this Court in Vizianagaram Social Welfare Residential School Society v. M. Tripura Sundari Devi-

(1990) 3 SCC 655. In the said judgment this Court has laid down that : (SCC p. 658, para 6) "6. ... when an advertisement mentions a particular qualification and an appointment is made in disregard of the same, [then] it is not a matter only between the Signature Not Verified appointing authority and the appointee concerned. The Signed by: KAFEEL AHMED ANSARI Signing time: 7/13/2023 1:13:40 PM

aggrieved are all those who had similar or even better qualifications than the appointee or appointees but who had not applied for the post because they did not possess the qualifications mentioned in the advertisement."

7. This aspect of the matter has also been considered by the Supreme Court in the case of Registrar, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore Vs. G. Hemlatha and others, (2012) 8 SCC 568 wherein it is observed that when the eligibility criteria is prescribed in the qualifying examination, it must be strictly adhered to and any dilution or tampering with it will work injustice on other candidates. The relevant extract from the said judgment is reproduced as under:- "12. No provision of any statute or any rules framed thereunder have been shown to us, which permit rounding - off of eligibility criteria prescribed for the qualifying examination for admission to the PG course in Msc (Nursing). When the eligibility criteria is prescribed in a qualifying examination, it must be strictly adhered to. Any dilution or tampering with the it will work injustice on other candidates. The Division Bench of the High Court erred in holding that the learned Single Judge was right in rounding-off of 54.71% to 55% so as to make Respondent 1 eligible for admission to the PG course. Such rounding-off is impermissible."

8. In another judgment in the case of Taniya Malik Vs. Registrar General of the High Court of Delhi, (2018) 14 SCC 129 the similar view has been reiterated by the Supreme Court wherein it took note of the above pronunciations of law in the cases of Rupashree Chowdhary (supra) and G. Hemlatha (supra). In the said judgment, it has been observed as under :- "22. With regard to question as to rounding off of the marks, in our opinion, when a particular aggregate is prescribed for eligibility, a person must meet the criteria without relaxation. It is not permissible to enhance the marks by rounding off method to make up the minimum aggregate."

9. From the aforesaid discussion, it is manifestly clear that in the present case also no provision of any statute or any rules framed thereunder have been shown to us, which permit rounding-off of Signature Not Verified Signed by: KAFEEL AHMED ANSARI Signing time: 7/13/2023 1:13:40 PM

eligibility criteria prescribed for selection and appointment to the post of Middle School Teacher.

10. In view of the foregoing reasons, we find no ground to issue any directions to the respondents as prayed for. Accordingly, the present petition being devoid of any merit is dismissed."

6. Since the rounding off the marks is not permissible, therefore, no relief can be granted to the petitioner.

7. The petition is hereby dismissed.

(G.S. AHLUWALIA) JUDGE kafeel

Signature Not Verified Signed by: KAFEEL AHMED ANSARI Signing time: 7/13/2023 1:13:40 PM