Patna High Court
Bihar School Examination Board, Patna vs Asharfi Kuer Ramratan Rai College @ ... on 15 May, 2025
Author: Partha Sarthy
Bench: Partha Sarthy
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
Letters Patent Appeal No.564 of 2025
In
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.13746 of 2024
======================================================
1. Bihar School Examination Board, Patna represented through its Secretary.
2. The Director (Academic), Bihar School Examination Board, Patna.
3. The Joint Secretary (OFSS), Bihar School Examination Board, Patna.
... ... Appellant/s
Versus
1. Asharfi Kuer Ramratan Rai College @ Asharfi Kuer Ramratan Rai Inter
College (Code 34009) Kotwal, District-East Champaran, represented by its
Principal Smt. Sima Smriti, Female, aged about 55 years, W/o Shri Sanjay
Kumar, R/o H-11, Fatehpur House, Kumar man Sinha Path, Chitragupta
Nagar, Teachers Colony, Kankarbagh, Patna-800020.
2. Smt. Sima Smriti, W/o Shri Sanjay Kumar, R/o H-11, Fatehpur House,
Kumar man Sinha Path, Chitragupta Nagar, Teachers Colony, Kankarbagh,
Patna-800020.
3. The State of Bihar through its Additional Chief Secretary, Education
Department, Government of Bihar, New Secretariat, Patna-800015.
4. The Additional Chief Secretary, Education Department, Government of
Bihar, New Secretariat, Patna-800015.
5. The Director, Higher Education, Education Department, Government of
Bihar, New Secretariat, Patna-800015.
6. The District Education Officer, East Champaran at Motihari.
7. The Circle Officer, Kotwa, District-East Champaran.
8. Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University Muzaffarpur represented
through its Registrar.
9. Asharfi Kuer Ramratan Rai Degree College, Kotwa Road, District East
Champaran represented through its Principal Shri Diwakar Kumar.
... ... Respondent/s
======================================================
Appearance :
For the Appellant/s : Mr. P.K. Shahi, Sr. Advocate
Mr. Satyabir Bharti, Sr. Advocate
Patna High Court L.P.A No.564 of 2025 dt.15-05-2025
2/9
Mr. Abhishek Anand, Advocate
Ms. Kanupriya, Advocate
For the State : Mr. Sarvesh Kumar Singh, AAG- 13
For Respondent Nos. 1 & 2 : Mr. P.N. Shahi, Sr. Advocate
Mr. Ram Vinay Sharma, Advocate
Mr. Amit Anand, Advocate
For the BRAU : Mr. Bindhyachal Rai, Advocate
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CORAM: HONOURABLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE
and
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PARTHA SARTHY
ORAL JUDGMENT
(Per: HONOURABLE THE ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE)
Date : 15-05-2025
All the defects pointed out by the Stamp
Reporter are ignored for the present.
2. We have heard Mr. P.K. Shahi, the learned
Senior Advocate for the appellants/Bihar School
Examination Board and Mr. P.N. Shahi, the learned
Senior Advocate for the respondents/college.
3. By the impugned interim order dated
08.05.2025
, the learned Single Judge has directed the
appellants/Bihar School Examination Board (in short the
"Board") to open the access to OFSS portal for the
college in question for one week to enable the college to
Patna High Court L.P.A No.564 of 2025 dt.15-05-2025
admit students in the intermediate course.
4. This has been challenged by the Board on
several grounds, even though the order is only by way of
an interim measure. The first of the grounds for
challenging it is that the facts necessary for the disposal
of the case were not laid before the learned Single Judge
for which the Board also is partly responsible because no
counter affidavit was filed, despite the asking of the
Court.
5. Nonetheless, the facts would reveal, it has
been contended, that the respondents/college had been
continuing as a degree college, in which, there could not
be an inter-college from the year 2024. In the earlier
regime, in the degree colleges affiliated to the
Universities, +2 teaching could have been continued.
However, later, with the BSEB taking over all inter-
colleges, it was clearly stipulated that an inter-college
cannot be permitted to run in a degree college.
6. A document has been brought on record by
Patna High Court L.P.A No.564 of 2025 dt.15-05-2025
the appellants/Board indicating that the Director of the
BSEB, vide his letter dated 28.03.2024, intimated the
Principal of the college that no inter classes could be held
along with the degree classes in any institution and since
both, viz., degree and inter classes, are being run in
Asharfi Kuer Ramratan Rai Degree College, the college
has been put in the list where there would be no access to
OFSS portal for admitting students in +2.
7. A window also was given to all such
institutions for recording objections. Thereafter, the
objections were dealt with by a specially constituted
committee comprising five members and in the case of
the college in question, it was found that the inter college
was being run from the premises of the degree college,
which had already been stopped from 2024.
8. With this background fact, Mr. P.K. Shahi,
the learned Senior Advocate for the Board contends that
the learned Single Judge ought not to have directed for
opening the access of the OFSS portal for the college in
Patna High Court L.P.A No.564 of 2025 dt.15-05-2025
question without the order of the Board discontinuing the
+2 education in the college in question having been
questioned and interfered.
9. It has further been submitted that these
facts were in the knowledge of the respondents, which
should have been brought on record and in that case, no
interim order would have been passed.
10. The closure of access to OFSS portal in all
such institutions where +2 classes are being held in
degree colleges was for the purpose of stopping all
institutions across the State of Bihar in admitting students
in +2 which, otherwise, would have put the career of such
students in peril later.
11. As opposed to the afore-noted contention,
Mr. P.N. Shahi, the learned Senior Advocate has
submitted that the college in question had been running
as an inter college since 1983 and only recently, the
Principal, fraudulently got a degree college opened and
affiliated it with Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University.
Patna High Court L.P.A No.564 of 2025 dt.15-05-2025
12. This objection was raised by the
respondents/college, but the same was never heeded to.
13. Apart from this, it has been submitted that
when a presentation of the infrastructure and the faculty
was made by the respondents/college before the Board,
the Board had acknowledged that the inter college was
being run properly. In fact, financial assistance from the
Government also was assured by the Board. The
Committee's report also appears to be primarily based on
the opinion given by the Circle Officer, which report is
highly debatable.
14. It has further been submitted that these
facts, as stated by the Board in this appeal, were brought
only by way of an interlocutory application, a copy of
which was served on the respondents/college only a day
before yesterday.
15. In any view of the matter, in the event of
the Board having notified that the respondents/college
cannot run +2 classes and such notification has not been
Patna High Court L.P.A No.564 of 2025 dt.15-05-2025
questioned or interfered with, we are satisfied that the
operation of the interim order passed by the learned
Single Judge requires to be stayed.
16. Mr. Shahi, thereafter, submitted that
instead of interfering with the order directing the OFSS
portal to be open for a week for the college in question,
the Court should consider the prayer of the
respondents/college that any admission taken in the
meanwhile shall be subject to the outcome of the writ
petition.
17. Normally, such a prayer could have been
acceded to, but considering the fact that in case it is
found factually that degree college and +2 college were
being run from the same premises, it would only be
disadvantageous to unsuspecting students who take
admission in this college, whose interest we are under an
obligation to guard and protect.
18. Considering this aspect of the matter, we
reject such a prayer and order for stay of the operation of
Patna High Court L.P.A No.564 of 2025 dt.15-05-2025
the impugned order dated 08.05.2025 passed in C.W.J.C.
No. 13746 of 2024, directing the Board to open the OFSS
portal for a week.
19. However, these issues are required to be
wrested before the learned Single Judge.
20. We, therefore, remand the matter to the
learned Single Judge with a request to take into account
all the facts and then pass any order. The learned Single
Judge would also consider asking the parties to file
documents in support of their contentions.
21. We further clarify that any observation
made by us in this order is tentative and only for the
purposes of dealing with the impugned interim order
directing the Board to open the portal, to which we are
not agreeable.
22. It appears that the writ petition is slated to
be listed before the learned Single Judge on 24 th of June,
2025.
23. Let this matter be listed on that day, viz.,
Patna High Court L.P.A No.564 of 2025 dt.15-05-2025
24th of June, 2025, preferably within first ten cases.
24. The appeal stands disposed off accordingly.
25. Interlocutory application/s, if any, also
stand disposed off accordingly.
(Ashutosh Kumar, ACJ)
(Partha Sarthy, J)
Sauravkrsinha/
Praveen-II-
AFR/NAFR NAFR
CAV DATE NA
Uploading Date 16.05.2025
Transmission Date NA
