A division bench of the Madras High Court comprising of Justice Mr. T. Raja and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy was adjudicating on a case of the respondents/students who had the grievance that the provisional certificate issued to them, by the university, mentioned a later date than the date of their last examination.
The Court reiterated that as per established case laws, the qualification of a person is deemed to have been acquired on the date of the final examination. Thus, the university was directed to issue revised certificates.
Brief Facts:
The first respondents in these writ appeals are the writ petitioners. Both the writ petitioners/first respondents herein were pursuing B.Sc. Agriculture course at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The first respondent in W.A.No.608 of 2023, who is the writ petitioner in W.P.No.3956 of 2023, had written her last examination of the sixth semester arrear subject on 4.1.2021. The results were declared on 8.1.2021. However, the provisional certificate issued to the petitioner/first respondent herein was dated 5.2.2021. The first respondent in W.A.No.609 of 2023, who is the writ petitioner in W.P.No.4457 of 2023, also raised a similar grievance. The learned Single Judge, vide two separate orders dated 20.2.2023 which are impugned in these writ appeals, directed the appellant/University to issue fresh provisional certificates to the writ petitioners/first respondents herein indicating that they were successful in the examination written by them on 4.1.2021 within a period of one week from the date of receipt of a copy of the said order. Assailing the said orders, the present writ appeals have been filed by the appellant/University.
Contentions of the Appellants:
The appellants contended that the result declaration proposals were sent to the Controller of Examinations by the respective colleges and after verification of all the documents pertaining to all eight semesters, along with reappearance examinations, if any, the University has to issue the certificate and, therefore, the university was justified in mentioning the date as 5.2.2021 in the provisional certificates issued to the writ petitioners. He pleaded for setting aside the orders passed by the learned Single Judge.
Contentions of the Respondents:
The first respondent submitted that the qualification of the person is deemed to have been acquired on the last date of the final examination and, therefore, the learned Single Judge had rightly directed the appellant/University to state the last date of examination in the provisional certificate. He pleaded that the writ appeals may be dismissed.
Observations of the Court:
The division bench relied upon the decision in K. Pandiyan vs Director of Elementary Education 2022 SCC OnLine Mad 4371, wherein the court held that once the person obtains the qualification, the date of obtaining the qualification will not be the date of declaration of results or the date of entering the same in the service register but the date of writing the last examination. Further, the court highlighted that when there is a case of administrative delay on the part of the respondents to enter the qualification in the service register, it cannot be put against the petitioners for no fault of him.
The court also relied upon the case of L. Sundararajan vs S. Rajavardhanan and others W.A. Nos. 425 of 2022 to hold that the qualification of a person is deemed to have been acquired on the date of the final examination. Thus, the bench did not find any reason to interfere with the initial courts’ decision in light of the aforementioned decisions.
Decision of the Court:
The writ petitions were dismissed and the university was directed to issue revised provisional certificates to the writ petitioner/first respondents.
Case Title: The Registrar. Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and anr. vs S. Lakshmi and anr.
Coram: Justice Mr. T. Raja and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy
Case No.: W.A.Nos.608 and 609 of 2023
Advocate for the Appellants: Mr. C. Prakasam
Advocate for the Respondents: Mr. R. Sankara Subbu (For R1)
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com
Picture Source :
