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R.Jeya Rani vs The State Of Tamil Nadu
2023 Latest Caselaw 15200 Mad

Citation : 2023 Latest Caselaw 15200 Mad
Judgement Date : 29 November, 2023

Madras High Court

R.Jeya Rani vs The State Of Tamil Nadu on 29 November, 2023

Author: R.Vijayakumar

Bench: R.Vijayakumar

                                                             W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456,
                                                        10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023


                        BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT

                                       ORDER RESERVED ON            : 24.11.2023

                                       ORDER PRONOUNCED ON : 29.11.2023

                                                 CORAM:
                                  THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.VIJAYAKUMAR

                      W.P.(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456,10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and
                                                 13352 of 2023
                                                      and
                                         W.M.P(MD).Nos.9089 of 2023

                     W.P(MD).No.8113 of 2023

                     R.Jeya Rani                                              ....Petitioner

                                                          Vs

                     1.The State of Tamil Nadu
                     Represented by its Secretary
                     Department of School Education
                     Fort St.George, Chennai 09

                     2.The Teachers Recruitment Board
                     represented by its Chairman
                     4th Floor, EVK Sampathmalikai
                     College Road, Chennai 06                                 ...Respondents

                     Prayer in WP(MD).No.8113 of 2023: This Petition filed under Article 226
                     of the Constitution of India, to issue a Writ of Declaration, directing the
                     second respondent herein to declare the Key Answer to Question Nos.3 and 5
                     in TNTET Paper -II Tamil -Maths and Science are wrong in so far as the
                     petitioner is concerned and award one mark to the petitioner for the Question
                     No.3 in TNTET Paper II Tamil-Maths and Science.
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

                     1/24
                                                                   W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456,
                                                              10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

                      Prayer in WP(MD).No.8113 of 2023
                                        For Petitioner     : M/s.A.Amala

                                        For R1             : Mr.N.GA.Natraj
                                                            Government Advocate

                                        For R2             : Mr.Veera.Kathiraven
                                                            Additional Advocate General
                                                            Assisted by Mr.VR.Shanmuganathan
                                                            Standing Counsel

                                                         COMMON ORDER

W.P(MD).Nos.8113,10235,10455, 10456,10851, 12410, 12706,12712,

and 13353 of 2023 have been filed by the candidates who appeared for

Paper-II in Tamil Nadu Teachers Eligibility Test examination conducted

online on various dates in February-2023.

2.The petitioners have prayed for writ of declaration that certain

questions have been wrongly framed and the final answer keys published by

the Teachers Recruitment Board on 28.03.2023 are wrong for several

questions. The petitioners have sought for a mandamus to re-evaluate their

answer sheets and award marks and declare them as successful in Paper-II

TNTET examination

3.The grievance of the petitioners in each of the writ petitions are as follows:

The petitioner contends that the Question No.3 has been wrongly https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

framed and the final answer key for Question No.5 is wrong. The petitioner

had contended that she had secured 81 marks and in case, if marks are

awarded correctly to these questions, she would get qualified.

(ii)W.P(MD).No.10235 of 2023:

The petitioner had contended that Question No.60 is out of

syllabus and the key answer for Question Nos.126 and 132 are wrong. She

had already secured 81 marks and if marks are allotted to her properly,

considering the correct answer, she would get qualified.

(iii)WP(MD).No.10455 of 2023:

The petitioner had contended that Question Nos.3 and 150 have

been wrongly framed and the final answer key to Question Nos. 29 and 147

are wrong. The petitioner had already secured 81 marks and if the marks are

awarded to these four questions, he would get qualified.

(iv).WP(MD).No.10456 of 2023:

According to the petitioner, the final key answer for Question

Nos.5, 74 and 79 are wrong. She had already secured 81 marks. If the marks

are properly awarded to these three questions, she would get qualified.

(v).WP(MD).No.10851 of 2023:

According to the petitioner, Question No.62 is out of syllabus

and Question No.69 has been wrongly framed. The petitioner had already

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

secured 79 marks and in case, if the marks are awarded to these questions,

she would get qualified.

(vi)WP(MD).No.12410 of 2023:

According to the petitioner, Question Nos.7,4, 118 and 124 have

been wrongly framed and the key answer to Question Nos.63 and 67 are

wrong. The petitioner had already secured 78 marks and in case, if marks are

awarded to her for the above said questions, she would get qualified.

(vii)WP(MD).No.12706 of 2023:

According to the petitioner, the key answer for Question Nos.

3,7,11,19,20,23,24,29,36,38,41,52,57,59,60,62,63,67,70,73,83,89,90,91,103,

111,114,115,124,129,130,131,133,138,139,140 and 142 are wrong. The

petitioner had already secured 73 marks. In case, if the marks are evaluated to

these questions, the petitioner would get qualified.

(viii).WP(MD).No.12712 of 2023:

The final answer key to Question No.137 is wrong. The

petitioner having secured 81 marks, if marks are allotted to her for Question

No.137, she would get qualified.

(ix)WP(MD).No.13352 of 2023:

According to the petitioner, the key answer to Question No.135

is wrong. He had already secured 81 marks and if mark is award to him for

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

Question No.135, he would be qualified.

4.Contentions of the learned counsels for the writ petitioners are as follows:

(i)The tentative answer keys were published by the Teachers

Recruitment Board on 22.02.2023 calling for objection to be submitted on or

before 25.02.2023. All the petitioners have raised their objections with regard

to framing of questions or with regard to the tentative answer keys to the

Teachers Recruitment Board within the time specified. Without properly

appreciating the said objections, the final answer keys have been published

by the Board on 28.03.2023. Based upon the final answer keys, the mark

statements have been uploaded.

(ii)The learned counsels appearing for the petitioners relied upon

certain standard books on the relevant subject or the books published by the

Tamil Nadu Textbooks Society from 6th to 12th standards and contend that the

final answer keys are not in consonance with the said standard books and the

textbooks.

(iii)The Board has not placed on record the name of the experts or the

standards books or textbooks relied upon those experts for arriving at the

final answer keys. Hence, there is no transparency on the part of the board in

publishing the final answer keys disregarding the objection raised by the

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

candidates.

(iv)Though it is mentioned in the Notification that the questions would

be at the level of 6th to 8th standards, in some cases, the questions are outside

the syllabus and therefore, the marks ought to have been awarded to the said

relevant questions irrespective of wrong answers. If the Board does not

consider the objections raised by the candidates, but solely relied upon the

experts whose opinion are credential have not been made public, the

candidates would be put to great hardship.

(v)When the petitioners specifically relied upon the standard books on

the relevant subject and the books published by the Tamil Nadu Textbooks

Society (which is the book prescribed for the students), the experts cannot

rely upon a different book to arrive at an answer which is beyond the syllabus

and contrary to the textbooks.

(vi)The textbooks are published by Tamil Nadu Textbooks Corporation

which is a Government entity and therefore, the candidates have every right

to rely upon the said textbooks in order to support the answers given by them

to the relevant questions. In some cases, the experts are relying upon the

textbooks and in other cases, the experts take a different view relying upon

some other books, which is not known to the candidates. Therefore, no format

is being followed by the experts in giving opinion for the objections raised by

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

the candidates.

(vii)The examinations are online/computer based and they were more

than 20 sessions. Each session had a different question paper. Therefore, the

answer sheets could not be valued on a single scale which would jeopardise

the interest of the petitioners. No steps have been placed by the Board to

normalise the marks obtained by the different candidates who had appeared in

different sessions with different set of question papers.

(viii)The petitioner had relied upon the judgment of the learned Single

Judge of this Court in WP(MD).No.22129 of 2022 dated 02.11.2022

(K.Vinopratha Vs. The Teachers Recruitment Board and another) wherein,

this Court has interfered in the writ petition and had proceeded to hold that

when the final key answer is patently wrong, the Court cannot shut its eyes

and refuse to set it aside.

(ix)The learned counsel for the petitioners had further relied upon a

Division Bench Judgment of our High Court in W.A.No.2364 of 2022

(T.Udaykumar Vs.The Union of India and others) dated 19.10.2022 wherein

the Hon'ble Division Bench was pleased to award four grace marks to the

writ petitioner NEET(UG)-2022 examination considering the fact that the key

answer to a particular question is wrong.

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

(x)Therefore, this Court does not lack jurisdiction to evaluate the

expert opinion to arrive at a conclusion whether the key answer arrived at by

the experts are correct or not.

(xi)The view of the experts cannot be considered to a gospel truth

when the key answer are demonstrably wrong and this Court can very well

pierce through the expert opinion and can arrive at a different opinion. This

Court can very well consider the materials placed on record by the candidates

through standard books and textbooks published by the Tamil Nadu

Government to arrive at a finding that the expert opinion are wrong.

(xii)The Board cannot hide themselves behind the expert opinion and

contend that the key answer finalised by them alone are correct and they will

not permit further scrutiny. Merely because the experts in a particular subject

have rendered a particular opinion (it continues to be an opinion) and it does

not prevent the Court from evaluating whether the said questions are correct

or not in the light of the standards books or textbooks placed on record by the

writ petitioners.

(xiii)The learned counsel for the petitioners had relied upon a judgment

of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in (2018) 2 SCC 357 (Ran Vijay

Singh & others Vs. State of U.P and others) wherein in paragraph No.30 (ii)

it is held that even though there is no provision for re-evaluation, the Court

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

may permit such re-evaluation only if it is established that a material error has

been committed. In the present case, as demonstrated by the petitioners, some

of the questions are out of syllabus, some of the questions have been wrongly

framed and for many questions, the key answers are wrong. Therefore, this

Court does not lack jurisdiction to consider the issue of interfering in the

result.

(xiv) The Court may even appoint another expert committee to re-

evaluate the questions which are in dispute so that a correct conclusion can

be arrived. Hence, the petitioners prayed for re-evaluation of their answer

sheets in the light of their objections raised to the respective questions, to

award marks and to declare them as qualified in Paper-II.

5.Contentions of the learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the State are as follows:

(i)The examination was conducted by the Teachers Recruitment Board

on 15.02.2023 and the tentative answer keys were published on 22.02.2023.

Several objections were received from the candidates till 25.02.2023. These

objections were placed before an expert body consisting of more than 100

experts on various subjects. After evaluating the questions and the tentative

key answers, they have accepted 15 objections and revised the answer keys.

Based upon their opinion, final answer keys were published on 28.03.2023.

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

Therefore, the contention of the writ petitioners that their objections were not

properly considered or the tentative answer keys were not revised is not

correct.

(ii)The very fact that the tentative key answer to 15 questions were

revised by the Board on the basis of the expert opinion would reveal that the

Board has accepted the fact that there are some errors on the tentative key

answer and they have rectified the same and published the final key answer.

(iii)The petitioners have never alleged that their objections have not

been considered. The primary objections of the petitioners is that the key

answers arrived at by the experts are not correct in the light of certain books

placed on record by the candidates.

(iv)The learned Additional Advocate General had relied upon the

judgement of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in 2018) 2 SCC 357 (Ran

Vijay Singh & others Vs. State of U.P and others) particularly paragraph

No.30 and contended that the Court should not re-evaluate the answer sheets

in view of the fact that it has no expertise in the academic matters and he had

further contended that the Court should presume the correctness of the key

answers and in case of any doubt, the benefit would go only to the exam

conducting body and not to the candidates.

(v)The learned Additional Advocate General also relied upon a

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in 2018 7 SCC 254

( U.P.P.S.C, through its Chairman and another Vs. Rahul Singh &

aanother) and contend that the onus is upon the candidates to establish that

the key answer is not only incorrect but it is also a glaring mistake. He had

further contended that the Judges cannot take the role of experts in the

academic matters.

(vi)He had further contended that 2,54,224 candidates appeared for the

examination. Out of the said candidates, only 18 candidates have filed the

writ petitions challenging the final answer keys before the Madurai Bench

and 20 candidates have filed the writ petitions before the Principal Seat.

Other than these candidates, none of them have chosen to challenge the final

answer keys published by the Board. At the instance of these 38 candidates,

the answer sheets cannot be re-evaluated. Hence he prayed for dismissal of

the writ petitions.

6.Contentions of the learned Advocate appearing for the Teachers Recruitment Board are as follows:

(i)The Board after receiving objections from the candidates, had

constituted a expert body consisting of more than 100 experts from various

subjects to evaluate the objections raised by the candidates to the tentative

key answers.

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

(ii) The experts have been chosen from different fields who are

connected with the questions over which disputes were raised by the

candidates. On the basis of the standard textbooks, these experts have arrived

at the final key answers.

(iii)In fact, the objections raised with regard to 15 questions by the

candidates were accepted by the expert body and they have chosen to revise

the tentative key answers while publishing the final key answers. Therefore,

this will show that the Board was not reluctant to consider the objections and

to revise the key answers. If the tentative key answers to other questions were

found to be erroneous by the expert body, the Board would have revised those

answers also.

(iv)In some cases, the candidates have relied upon some books or

guides published by the private parties to buttress their contentions that the

final answers are erroneous. Therefore, the said contention cannot be

considered upon by this Court.

(v) The qualifying examination is being conducted for teachers who are

going to take classes for 6th to 10th standards. Therefore, the candidates cannot

contend that they were expecting the questions from textbooks of the classes

6th to 8th standards for taking classes up to 10th standard. The candidates are

expected to have adequate knowledge up to 12th standard, so that they can

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

handle the standards. Therefore, the experts have not found any one of the

questions as out of syllabus.

(vi)The learned advocate requested the Court to consider the report

filed by him on 27.11.2023 consisting of the expert body from various

subjects who had evaluated the objections raised by the candidates. Hence, he

prayed for dismissal of the writ petition.

7.I have considered the submissions made on either side and perused

the material records.

8.Out of syllabus and erroneous framing of questions:

(I) Various petitioners have raised a grievance that some of the

questions are out of syllabus and some of the questions have not been

properly framed. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in a judgment reported in

(2018) 2 SCC 357 (Ran Vijay Singh & others Vs. State of U.P and others) in

paragraph No.31 has held as if an error is committed by the examination

authority, the complete body of candidates suffer. The entire examination

process does not deserve to be derailed only because some candidates feel

that injustice has been caused to them by an erroneous question or an

erroneous answer. Even assuming that such a question is out of syllabus or

the questions have been erroneously framed, all the candidates who had

appeared in the examination would suffer. The writ petitioners alone cannot

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

claim that they have been put to hardship. Any award of marks to the writ

petitioners would be doing injustice to other candidates who had understood

the said question in a particular way and proceeded to answer the said

question which had tallied with the final answer key published by the

Teachers Recruitment Board.

(ii)A perusal of the Notification dated 07.03.2022 reveals that the

questions in Tamil Nadu Teacher Eligibility Test (TNTET) Paper-II will be

based on the topic of the prescribed syllabus of the State for Classes VI to

VIII with their difficulty level as well as linkages up to the Higher Secondary

Stage. Therefore, the contention of the petitioners that the questions were

beyond the syllabus prescribed for Classes VI to VIII cannot be legally

countenanced. Therefore, this Court is not inclined to accept the plea relating

to out of syllabus questions and the questions that have been framed wrongly.

9.Erroneous answer keys:

(i)All the petitioners have contended that they have raised objections

to the tentative answer keys and without considering their objections, the

final answer keys have been published. When published final answer keys are

demonstrably erroneous, this Court should interfere and set-right the same.

The petitioners have also relied upon the judgment of the learned Single

Judge of this Court in WP(MD).No.22129 of 2019 ( K.Vinopratha Vs. The

https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

Teachers Recruitment Board and another) dated 02.11.2022 and W.A.No.

2364 of 2022 (T.Udhaykumar Vs. The Union of India and others) dated

19.10.2022.

10.The petitioners have also relied upon paragraph No.30(ii) of the

judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in (2018) 2 SCC 357 (Ran

Vijay Singh & others Vs. State of U.P and others) to contend that when

material error has been committed and in rare or exceptional cases, this Court

can interfere.

11.The learned counsel appearing for the Teachers Recruitment Board

has placed on record the list of experts who were appointed to consider the

objections raised by the candidates. A perusal of the said experts' details

clearly indicate that they are either College Professors or Academicians or

P.G.Assistants in their respective fields. Each one of the experts have

considered the objections raised by the candidates on the relevant subject and

has ultimately arrived at a finding that the tentative answer keys for 15

questions are erroneous and they have proceeded to revise the answer keys.

Based upon the said revised final answer keys, the Teachers Recruitment

Board has proceeded to award marks.

12.In some cases, the petitioners have relied upon some standards

textbooks on the relevant subject or textbooks published by Tamil Nadu

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W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

Textbooks Corporation to buttress their contentions that their answers are

correct and the answers finalised by the experts are not correct.

13.On going through the expert details submitted by way of a report,

this Court finds that there are no reason to suspect the credentials of those

experts. This Court cannot sit on appeal as against the expert opinion and

adjudicate upon an academic issue whether the answers finalised by the

expert body is correct or the answer that is projected by the candidates are

correct.

14.The Hon'ble Supreme Court in a judgment reported in (2018) 2

SCC 357 (Ran Vijay Singh & others Vs. State of U.P and others) in

paragraph No.30 has summarised the law on the jurisdiction of the Court to

interfere in the academic issue which is extracted as follows:

“30. The law on the subject is therefore, quite clear and we only propose to highlight a few significant conclusions. They are:

(i) If a statute, Rule or Regulation governing an examination permits the re-evaluation of an answer sheet or scrutiny of an answer sheet as a matter of right, then the authority conducting the examination may permit it;

(ii) If a statute, Rule or Regulation governing an examination does not permit re-evaluation or scrutiny of an answer sheet (as distinct from prohibiting it) then the Court may permit re-evaluation or scrutiny only if it is demonstr very clearly, without any “inferential process of reasoning https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

or by a process of rationalisation” and only in rare or exceptional cases that a material error has been committed;

(iii) The Court should not at all re-evaluate or scrutinize the answer sheets of a candidate–it has no expertise in the matter and academic matters are best left to academics; (iv) The Court should presume the correctness of the key answers and proceed on that assumption; and

(v) In the event of a doubt, the benefit should go to the examination authority rather than to the candidate. “

15.The Hon'ble Supreme Court in a judgment reported in 2018 7 SCC

254 (U.P.P.S.C, through its Chairman and another Vs. Rahul Singh &

another) after following the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported

in (2018) 2 SCC 357 (Ran Vijay Singh & others Vs. State of U.P and

others), in paragraph Nos.12, 13 and 14 has held as follows:

“12. The law is well settled that the onus is on the candidate to not only demonstrate that the key answer is incorrect but also that it is a glaring mistake which is totally apparent and no inferential process or reasoning is required to show that the key answer is wrong. The Constitutional Courts must exercise great restraint in such matters and should be reluctant to entertain a plea challenging the correctness of the key answers. In Kanpur University case (supra), the Court recommended a system of - (1) moderation; (2) avoiding ambiguity in the questions; (3) prompt decisions be taken to https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456, 10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

exclude suspected questions and no marks be assigned to such questions.

13. As far as the present case is concerned even before publishing the first list of key answers the Commission had got the key answers moderated by two expert committees. Thereafter, objections were invited and a 26 member committee was constituted to verify the objections and after this exercise the Committee recommended that 5 questions be deleted and in 2 questions, key answers be changed. It can be presumed that these committees consisted of experts in various subjects for which the examinees were tested. Judges cannot take on the role of experts in academic matters. Unless, the candidate demonstrates that the key answers are patently wrong on the face of it, the courts cannot enter into the academic field, weigh the pros and cons of the arguments given by both sides and then come to the conclusion as to which of the answer is better or more correct.

14. In the present case we find that all the 3 questions needed a long process of reasoning and the High Court itself has noticed that the stand of the Commission is also supported by certain text books. When there are conflicting views, then the court must bow down to the opinion of the experts. Judges are not and cannot be experts in all fields and, therefore, they must exercise great restraint and should not overstep their jurisdiction to upset the opinion of the experts.”

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16.A combined reading of the judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court

would reveal the following prepositions of law:

(i)The Court has to presume the correctness of the answer keys and

proceed on their assumption and in cases of any doubt, benefit would go to

the examining authority and not to the candidates.

(ii).It is completely beyond the jurisdiction of the Court to ascertain the

correctness of answer keys.

(iii)The entire burden is upon the candidates to demonstrate that the

key answers are incorrect and it is a glaring mistake which is totally apparent.

(iv)It is the burden of the candidates to establish that the mistake is

apparent and no inferential process or reasoning is required to show that the

key answer is wrong.

(v)When a long process of reasoning is required, the Court should not

enter into the academic field and come to a conclusion as to which of the

answer is better or more correct.

(vi)Even in such cases, when there are conflicting views, the Court has

to bow down to the opinion of the experts.

17.The petitioners have relied upon the judgment of the Hon'ble

Division Bench of our High Court in W.A.No.2364 of 2022 (T.Udaykumar

Vs.The Union of India and others) dated 19.10.2022 wherein the Hon'ble

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Division Bench was pleased to award four marks to a candidate in NEET

(UG)-2022 examination. A perusal of the facts which are reflected in

paragraph No.11 will clearly indicate that even the examining authority has

admitted that the key answer to a particular question was wrong. Only based

upon the admission made by examining authority, the Court has proceeded to

award grace marks. It is not applicable to the facts of the present case.

18.The learned counsel for the petitioners have relied upon a

judgement of the learned Single Judge of this Court in WP(MD).No.22129 of

2022 dated 02.11.2012 (K.Vinopratha Vs The Teachers Recruitment Board

and another). In the said writ petition, the final answer keys to two questions

for the competitive examination conducted by Teacher Recruitment Board for

the post of P.G.Assistant (English) was put to challenge. One of the questions

relates to the name of the narrator of a Novel. Another question relates to

choosing of the correct word. The learned Single Judge has proceeded to

undertake to exercise of finding out the correct answer. Thereafter, found that

the final key answers published by the Board were erroneous. The exercise

undertaken by the learned Judge would reveal that it does not require any

long process of reasoning or detail study of any standard books. However, in

the present case, some of the petitioners have relied upon the guides

published by the private parties and others have relied upon some standard

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books published on the relevant subjects and the textbooks prescribed by

Tamil Nadu Textbooks Corporation.

19.Unless the Court embarks upon a long process of reasoning and

discussion, the Court would not be in a position to arrive at a correct answer.

Each one of the questions have been considered by not less than three experts

on the relevant subject and ultimately, the final key answer has been

published. Therefore, this Court is of the opinion that as laid down by the

Hon'ble Supreme Court in the judgment cited supra, this Court would not

enter into the academic field and upset the expert opinion rendered on the

tentative key answers.

20.It is not a case where the Board has chosen to adamantly refused to

accept any one of the objections raised by the candidates. The expert body

had found that 15 tentative answer keys are erroneous and has chosen to

revise those key answers. The Board has accepted the said expert opinion and

proceeded to revise the key answers and published the final key answers.

Therefore, this Court has no reason to doubt the expert opinion or the

bonafides of the Board in publishing the final key answer and the ultimate

results.

21.As rightly pointed out by the learned Additional Advocate General,

out of 2,54,224 candidates, only 38 of them have chosen to contend that some

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of the questions are out of syllabus and some questions have been wrongly

framed or the key answers to some of the questions are erroneous. As pointed

out by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in (2018) 2 SCC 357 (Ran Vijay Singh &

others Vs. State of U.P and others), the entire examination process does not

deserve to be derailed only because some candidates are disappointed in view

of an erroneously question or an erroneous answer. All the candidates suffer

equally, though some might suffer more but they cannot be helped since

mathematical precision is not always possible. Therefore, at the instance of

these writ petitioners, the entire examination process cannot be derailed

which would have a cascading effect of disturbing the result of other

candidates who have not challenged the evaluation process.

22.In view of the above said deliberations, this Court is of the

considered opinion that there are no merits in the writ petitions and the same

stand dismissed. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is

closed.


                                                                                         29.11.2023


                     Internet : Yes/No
                     Index : Yes/No
                     NCC        : Yes/No
                     msa



https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis


                                                           W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456,
                                                      10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

                     To

                     1.The Secretary
                     The State of Tamil Nadu
                     Department of School Education
                     Fort St.George, Chennai 09

                     2.The Chairman
                     Teachers Recruitment Board
                     4th Floor, EVK Sampathmalikai
                     College Road, Chennai 06




https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis


                                        W.P(MD).Nos.8113, 10235, 10455, 10456,
                                   10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and 13352 of 2023

                                                     R.VIJAYAKUMAR, J.


                                                                          msa




                                                  Pre-delivery order made in


                                  W.P.(MD).Nos.8113,   10235,   10455,
                                  10456,10851, 12410, 12706,12712, and
                                  13352 of 2023 and W.M.P(MD).Nos.9089
                                  of 2023




                                                                   29.11.2023




https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis


 
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