The High Court dismissed a petition seeking to include the petitioner's institution in the list of examination centres for the U.P. Board Class X and XII exams. Relying on S. Ram Shankar A.P.G. Inter College, the court held that no statutory right exists for a college to be declared an examination centre.
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Court No. - 54
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 1034 of 2020
Petitioner :- C/M Sant Keenaram Inter College And Another Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 5 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Raj Narayan Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Rajiv Joshi,J.
Heard learned counsel for the petitioners and learned Standing Counsel for the respondents.
Present Writ Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed with the following prayer:
"A) A writ, order or direction in the nature of certiorari quashing the list dated 30.11.2019 issued by the respondents.
B) A writ, order or direction in the nature of mandamus directing the respondents to issue fresh list by including the name of the petitioner's institution for allotment of examination Centre of U.P. Board for Class Xth and XII."
It reflects from the record that Government Order dated 16.10.2019 has been issued by the State Government in respect of allotment of Centres for conducting High School and Intermediate Examinations 2020. A detailed procedure has been prescribed in the said Government Order and as per Clause (Gha) thereof, the Parishad shall publish list of the examination Centres for conducting the High School and Intermediate examination by 30.11.2019. Clause 13 of the said Government Order further provides that the aggrieved colleges may file their objection within five days from the date of publication of the final list of allotted centres.
Admittedly, in the present case, the list of examination centres was published on 30.11.2019 and the objection/representation has been made by the petitioner's Institution on 4.12.2019 before the District Inspector of Schools, Jaunpur, who is not the competent authority. Copy of the said representation has been appended as Annexure No.9 to the Writ Petition. As per the Government Order dated 16.10.2019, objection, if any, be filed by the Institution concerned within five days by E-mail to the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad.
Learned Standing Counsel submits that the petitioner has no legal right to be declared as Examination Centre of the Board as he failed to file his objection within the time prescribed under the Government Order dated 16.10.2019 and in view thereof, no direction can be issued to the concerned respondents as prayed for. Learned Standing Counsel has further placed reliance on Judgment of the learned Single Judge of this Court in Misc. Single No.35384 of 2019, C/M S.
Ram Shankar A.P.G. Inter College Thru Its Manager & Another Vs. State of U.P. Thru Addl. Chief Secy/Prin Secy Sec. Edu & Other in which this Court took the view that the Petitioner's College does not have any vested right to be declared as an examination centre and the petition in this regard is not maintainable. The Judgment dated 18.12.2019 passed in Misc. Single No.35384 of 2019 for ready reference is quoted herein under:
"Petitioner Committee of Management, S. Ram Shankar A.P.G. Inter College, Lebuduwa Kodiya Bazar, distt. Gonda, has approached this Court praying that its College should be fixed an examination centre of Board of High School and Intermediate Examination, 2020. It has also prayed the final list of examination centre of district Gonda for the U.P. Board of High School and Intermediate Examination, 2020 published by the opposite party, U.P. High School and Intermediate Education Board, Prayagraj, to be quashed to the extent it excludes the name of petitioner Institution.
It was specifically put to learned counsel for petitioner as to under which law, the petitioner College has any legal right to be declared as examination centre of the Board, he could not reply to the same. It is always the discretion of the Board to allocate a College the examination centre of the Boarde after looking into large number of aspects while fixing examination centres. The Board after looking into the relevant aspects have already declared the list of examination centres. Since the petitioner College does not have any vested right to be declared as an examination centre, the petition is not maintainable in writ jurisdiction.
Learned counsel for petitioner has prayed that he may be permitted to make representation to the appropriate authorities. I am not inclined to accept such request, as there was large scale of mass copying being done in the State for many many years. With great difficulty, the same has come in control of the authorities. Therefore, any indulgence given at this stage, may seriously jeopardize the efforts of the authorities. Thus, the said request is refused.
With the aforesaid, the petition is dismissed."
It is well settled that under Article 226 of the Constitution, the power of the High Court to issue appropriate writ is discretionary and the relief cannot be claimed as of right.
In S. Ram Shnakar A.P.G. Inter College (supra) , the Court has rightly taken the view that the petitioner's Institution has no legally enforceable right to be declared as one of the examination centres, as the primary purpose of a writ of mandamus is to protect a statutory right and to enforce the corresponding imperative duty created or imposed by law.
In view of what has been indicated above, this Writ Petition lacks merit and is, accordingly, dismissed.
Order Date :- 14.1.2020 T. Sinha
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the petitioner institution has any legally enforceable right to be declared as an examination centre.
Whether the petitioner filed objection to the examination centre list within the prescribed time under the Government Order.
C/M Sant Keenaram Inter College And Another
State Of U.P. And 5 Others
Rajiv Joshi
T. Sinha
As recorded by the court registry
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