Bihar School Examination Board vs Nagma Praveen
2022 Latest Caselaw 1432 Patna

         IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA

                        Letters Patent Appeal No.192 of 2020

                                          In

                    Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.21368 of 2019


1.   Bihar School Examination Board Patna through its Secretary.
2.   Chairman, Bihar School Examination Board, Patna.
3.   Secretary, Bihar School Examination Board, Patna.
4.   Joint Secretary-cum-Controller of Examinations, Bihar School Examination
     Board, Patna.

                                                                 ... ... Appellant/s

                                       Versus

1.   Nagma Praveen, Daughter of Shri Md. Shamim, Resident of Lalkothi
     Danapur, Dinapur-cum-Khagaul, P.S.-Danapur, District Patna, Pin Code-
     801503.
                                         Petitioner    .. respondent 1st set
2.   The State of Bihar through the Principal Secretary, Education Department,
     Bihar, Patna.
                                            Respondent .... respondent II set

                                               ... ... Respondent/s
     ======================================================

Appearance :

For the Appellant/s : Mr.Manish Kumar, Advocate For the Respondent/s : Mr. Ajay Kumar Rastogi, AAG 10 Mr. Abhinav Srivastava, Advocate Mr. Ujjawal Bhushan, Advocate ====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE and HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S. KUMAR CAV JUDGMENT (Per: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S. KUMAR)

Date : 28-02-2022 Heard learned counsel for the parties.

This LPA has been preferred on behalf of Bihar School

Examination Board for setting aside the judgment and order Patna High Court L.P.A No.192 of 2020 dt.28-02-2022

dated 19.12.2019 passed in CWJC No.21368 of 2019 passed by

learned Single Judge allowing the writ petition filed by writ

petitioner (Nagma Praveen).

Briefly stated the facts of the case is that a press release

dated 3.3.2017 bearing No.19 / 2017 was issued by the Bihar

School Examination Board intimating that 150 students have

filed online forms from two schools having two different

registration numbers and the Board has cancelled the

candidature of all those 150 students, the details of whom were

uploaded on the website of Board including that of petitioner.

Earlier, writ petitioner (Nagma Praveen) had filed CWJC

No.7717 of 2017 for quashing that part of the list which

indicated that writ petitioner had two registration numbers and

her candidature has been cancelled with further prayer to allow

the writ petitioner (Nagma Praveen) to appear in the Special

Intermediate Examination, 2017 to be conducted by the Board.

It was submitted by the writ petitioner (Nagma Praveen) that she

was student of Aditya Singh High School, Hisua, Nawada in

the year 2015 and after passing the secondary examination,

2015, she took admission in the Intermediate course at Magadh

Central Secondary School, Hisua, Nawada in the year 2015 and

she filled her form for registering herself for the intermediate Patna High Court L.P.A No.192 of 2020 dt.28-02-2022

examination, 2017 and she was allotted Registration No.0027 -

2015.

CWJC No.7717 of 2017 was disposed of on 23.06.2017

with a direction to the Board to cancel the additional registration

number that has been issued in the name of writ petitioner and

to allow her to appear in the compartmental Intermediate

Examination-2017.

Aggrieved by order of learned Single Judge, Board

preferred LPA being LPA No.955 of 2017 and the order passed

by the learned Single Judge was modified by the Division

Bench by its order dated 11.12.2017 which reads as follows:-

"Having heard learned counsel for the parties and taking note of the facts and circumstances of the case, we direct that the enquiry to be conducted by the Board, as directed by the Writ Court shall be concluded within a period of one month from today and depending upon the outcome of the said enquiry in case the respondent No.1 stands exonerated in the enquiry, her result in the compartmental examination undertaken by her shall be declared else the Board shall be free to cancel her examination and the respondent No. 1 shall be free to challenge the outcome of the enquiry and the order issued by the Board.

With the aforesaid modification in the order passed by the Writ Court, the appeal stands disposed of."

Writ petitioner appeared in the special Intermediate

Examination, 2017, however, her result was not declared and Patna High Court L.P.A No.192 of 2020 dt.28-02-2022

her registration number / candidature was also cancelled, as in

the inquiry conducted by the Board, she was found guilty of

misconduct and inquiry report dated 24.04.2018 was submitted

to this effect.

In the inquiry conducted by the Board pursuant to liberty

given by Division Bench in LPA No.955 of 2017, by order dated

23.06.2017, it was found that writ petitioner got herself

registered twice for session 2015-17 from two different schools

as a regular candidate. Writ petitioner was firstly admitted in

Magadh Senior Secondary School, Nawada and thereafter, she

got herself admitted in Intermediate High School, Karpy, Arwal

by making online application from two schools and writ

petitioner got two registration numbers, i.e., R-230810027 / 15

as being regular student of Magadh Central Senior Secondary

School, Nawada and R-25008003815 being regular student of

Intermediate High School, Karpy, Arwal. In the inquiry, it was

found that writ petitioner and her parents committed misconduct

by getting the petitioner admitted in two schools as regular

student and also got two registration numbers from two schools

to appear at the examination with oblique motive for unlawful

gain and accordingly her candidature was cancelled and results

were not declared.

Patna High Court L.P.A No.192 of 2020 dt.28-02-2022

Petitioner thereafter filed CWJC No.21368 of 2019 for

quashing the order dated 24.04.2018 passed by the Joint

Secretary-cum-Controller of Examination, Bihar School

Examination Board, Patna by which her candidature was

cancelled and her result was not declared and same was allowed

by the learned Single Judge by order dated 19.12.2019 and

aggrieved by which, Bihar School Examination Board has filed

present LPA.

In the inquiry conducted by the Board, the inquiry

committee found from the record of Magadh Central Senior

Secondary School that writ petitioner was admitted in the school

on 28.08.2015 and her name appeared at Sr. No.108 in the

admission register and in the Senior Secondary School, Karpi,

Arwal she was admitted on 01.11.2015 and her name appeared

at Sr. No.207. The inquiry committee further found that the

photograph of the writ petitioner did not tally with the

photograph affixed on the admission application and registration

application but the committee found that in both the schools on

Adhar Card and matriculation mark sheet, the name of parents

of writ petitioner are same.

Such malpractice has been committed only with a view

to get good results by impersonating the petitioner in the Patna High Court L.P.A No.192 of 2020 dt.28-02-2022

examination by someone else and finding the allegations to be

true that petitioner had two registration numbers from two

different schools, her registration number / candidature was

cancelled and her result was not declared.

The learned Single Judge has held that admittedly the

writ petitioner was minor on the date of her admission in the

school and the inquiry officer did not collect any document to

show that it was the writ petitioner and not either her parents or

her relatives got her illegally admitted in the second school with

ulterior motive of fetching good marks in the intermediate

examination by allowing somebody else to appear at the

examination on behalf of petitioner. This act might have been

committed by the parent of the petitioner but such misdeed of

parents of petitioner, the candidature of petitioner cannot be

cancelled and withholding the result of petitioner is not justified

and allowed the writ petition and quashed the impugned order

dated 24.04.2018 passed by Joint Secretary-cum-Controller of

Examination, Bihar School Examination Board, Patna.

Respondents were further directed to publish the result of the

petitioner within two months from the date of order.

Heard learned counsel for the appellant, learned counsel

for the State as well as learned counsel for respondent no.1 Patna High Court L.P.A No.192 of 2020 dt.28-02-2022

(Nagma Praveen).

From the materials available on record, it is apparent that

it was not only the petitioner whose registration was cancelled

but 150 such students who had two registrations from two

schools were cancelled and it was the specific case of the writ

petitioner in her first writ petition being CWJC No. 717 of 2017

that she has only one registration number and she is regular

student of one school and on such plea, she was permitted to

appear in the examination, subject to outcome of inquiry

conducted by the Board in which it was conclusively found that

she had two registration numbers from two different schools for

oblique purpose.

The learned Single Judge has found that petitioner had

two registration numbers from two schools, however, she being

minor cannot be held responsible for the same and said

malpractice may have been committed by her parents or her

relatives.

The learned Single Judge has enlarged the scope of writ

petition, as petitioner in her first writ petition had pleaded and

also in terms of L.P.A. order, if it was found that she has two

registration numbers from two different schools, her candidature

were liable to be cancelled. The inquiry conducted by the Board Patna High Court L.P.A No.192 of 2020 dt.28-02-2022

had found petitioner having two registration numbers from two

different schools and such finding is based upon the evidence

collected from the records maintained by both schools and there

is nothing to discard such finding. The order passed is reasoned

and speaking and findings are based upon proper appreciation of

materials available on record.

In said view of the matter, there was no occasion for the

learned Single Judge to travel beyond the ambit and scope of lis

between the parties as dispute between the parties was confined

to whether the writ petitioner, as claimed, was regular student of

one school having one registration number or she took

admission in two schools having two registration numbers, as

contended by the Bihar School Examination Board. The inquiry

conducted by the Board found that petitioner had two

registration number and finding recorded is based upon

evidence/materials collected during inquiry. The finding

recorded by the inquiry committee is neither perverse nor based

upon no evidence nor based upon any extraneous/irrelevant

/non-existent consideration, as such, there was no scope of any

interference by the writ court in its writ jurisdiction.

For the reasons, as stated above, the LPA is allowed and

the judgment and order dated 19.12.2019 passed by the learned Patna High Court L.P.A No.192 of 2020 dt.28-02-2022

Single Judge in CWJC No.21368 of 2019 is set aside and writ

petition is dismissed. No cost.

( S. Kumar, J)

I agree.

(Sanjay Karol, CJ)

Sanjay/-

AFR/NAFR                AFR
CAV DATE                08.09.2021
Uploading Date          28.02.2022
Transmission Date       NA