CBSE Cannot Stop Students From Entering Examination Halls After Issuing Admit Cards To Them: Delhi HC
The Delhi High Court allowed students to re-appear for the Class X examination holding that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had no right to stop students from entering an examination hall after issuing their admit cards.
The Court remarked, “The CBSE is expected to be vigilant regarding the entitlement of the students to appear in the examination.”
The petitioner was a student undertaking Class X examinations conducted by the CBSE. A notice was issued by the CBSE to upload a domicile certificate along with the application for appearing in the examination. The Court took note of the fact that this requirement was introduced for the first time this year.
Unfortunately, the student did not have a domicile certificate at the time of application, due to which she had to physically submit the certificate to the CBSE fifteen days prior to the issuance of her admit card.
The student was allowed to appear for her first examination but was stopped from entering the examination hall for her second examination.
A Single Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar observed, “This is completely unacceptable. The CBSE is expected to be vigilant regarding the entitlement of the students to appear in the examination. After issuing the admit card, stopping the student from entering the examination hall is unthinkable. The CBSE has no right, whatsoever, to do so. It is inhuman to first issue an admit card to a student, and when the student appears for the examination, make her stand outside the Examination Hall.”
Advocate Sahil Mongia represented the petitioner, while Advocate Atul Kumar appeared for the respondents.
The Court stated that “many students who desired to apply for the examination were, therefore, unaware of the requirement of uploading a domicile certificate till the issuance of the notice by the CBSE on 5 September 2023.”
The Court held that the student would be entitled to undertake the examination and that “she will also be given extension of time for completing the paper to compensate the time for which she has had to wait outside the Examination Hall without undertaking the examination so that she is provided the same time to complete the paper as all other students.”
The Court clarified that any other student who was held up outside the Examination Hall for want of uploading the domicile certificate in time would also be entitled to enter the Examination Hall and undertake the examination with an extension of time.
Accordingly, the High Court allowed the petition.
Cause Title: Ms. Kanishka v. Central Board Of Secondary Education & Ors.
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocates Sahil Mongia, Shahil Rao, Abhishek Yadav, Rahul Yadav and Divya Sharma
Respondents: Advocate Atul Kumar
