Allowed

Mohammed Roshan.E.a. v. the Director, National Institute of Open Schooling

Kerala HC17 Dec 2020WP(C)/22671/2020

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court in Kerala allowed a writ petition seeking direction to the National Institute of Open Schooling to correct an erroneous date of birth and father's name in the petitioner's Secondary Certificate. Acknowledging the hardship caused by the discrepancy with statutory birth records, the Court issued directions for correction contingent on verification by local authorities, allowing recove

What did the court decide?

Directed NIOS to correct the date of birth and father's name in Ext.P1 after verification by local/statutory authorities; NIOS may demand consolidated fee; petitioner to pay Rs.3000 as cost.

Mohammed Roshan.E.a. Vs the Director, National… — Education and Admissions | Kerala HC (2020)

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

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PRESENT

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THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V

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THURSDAY, THE 17TH DAY OF DECEMBER 2020 / 26TH AGRAHAYANA, 1942 WP(C).No.22671 OF 2020(H)

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PETITIONER:

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MOHAMMED ROSHAN.E.A. AGED 20 YEARS S/O. ABDUL SAMAD E.I, EDAYADI HOUSE, PERINGOTTUKARA P.O, THRISSUR, KERALA-680 565

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BY ADVS. SRI.T.T.MUHAMOOD SRI.V.E.ABDUL GAFOOR SRI.A.MOHAMMED SAVAD SRI.C.Y.VINOD KUMAR SHRI.T.R.VISHNU

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RESPONDENTS:

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1 THE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OPEN SCHOOLING A-24/25, INSTITUTIONAL AREA, SECTOR-62, NOIDA,DIST. GAUTHAM BUDH NAGAR, UTTAR PRADESH 201 309.

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2 THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OPEN SCHOOLING (NIOS), 6TH FLOOR, KERALA STATE HOUSING BOARD BUILDING, PANAMPILLY NAGAR, KOCHI 682 036.

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3 THE SECRETARY, BOARD OF HIGHER SECONDARY EXAMINATION, DIRECTORATE OF HIGHER SECONDARY EDUCATION, HOUSING BOARD BUILDINGS, SANTHI NAGAR, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695 001

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SRI KP HARISH, SR GOVERNMENT PLEADER SRI.T.K.VENUGOPAL, STANDING COUNSEL

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THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 17.12.2020, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:

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WP(C).No.22671 OF 2020 2

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JUDGMENT

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Being aggrieved by the refusal on the part of the respondents 1 and 2 in correcting the date of birth of the petitioner and his father’s name in Ext.P1 Secondary Certificate issued by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), the petitioner is before this Court.

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The petitioner states that he was born on 2.10.2000 as is evident from the Birth Certificate issued by the Secretary and Registrar of Births and Deaths, Katoor Gramapanchayat. The very same date of birth is entered in Ext.P4 Aadhar Card as well as Ext.P5 passport issued to the petitioner. His grievance is that in the Secondary Examination held by the National Institute of Open School (NIOS), his date of birth is erroneously entered as 16.10.2000. He also states that though his father’s name is ‘Abdul Samad E.I.’, as is evident from Exts.P4 and P5, his father’s name is incorrectly mentioned as “ Abdhul Samad E.I.” in Exhibits P1 and P2. On realising the mistake, the petitioner is stated to have submitted an application for correction appending his original certificates. However, his application was rejected by Ext.P6. In the said circumstances, he submitted a written representation before the respondents. However, by Ext.P7 communication, his request was rejected on the ground that any application for correction submitted after three years from the date of registration for admission, will

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WP(C).No.22671 OF 2020 3

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not be considered. It is in the afore circumstances that the petitioner is before this Court seeking to quash Ext.P7 and for a further direction to the respondents 1 and 2 to make necessary corrections in Ext.P1 with respect to the date of birth of the petitioner.

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I have heard Sri.T.T.Muhamood, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri. T.K.Venugopal, the learned Standing Counsel appearing for the National Institute of Open Schooling.

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I have considered the submissions advanced.

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Insofar as the change of date of birth of the petitioner is concerned, a Division Bench of this Court in Subin Mohammed. S Vs. Union of India and Ors. [2016 (1) KLT 340], had occasion to observe that the entry of the date of birth in the statutory register raises a presumption of correctness and it prevails over an entry in the school register. The presumption, of course, is always rebuttable and it depends on the facts of each case. This Court had occasion to observe that the future prospects of a student to study or get employment abroad will be substantially affected if the entry of date of birth in the mark sheet does not tally with that in the birth certificate. It was held that though a writ of mandamus cannot be issued in the strict sense, the failure to exercise jurisdiction may put the student in serious hardship. It was held by this Court that discretion will have to be exercised by this Court on grounds of public policy, public interest and public good.

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Hence, in the light of the observations made by this Court in

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WP(C).No.22671 OF 2020 4

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Subin Mohammed (supra), this writ petition is disposed of with the following directions:

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a) The NIOS shall correct the entry as it concerns the date

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of birth of the petitioner and the name of the petitioner's father in Exhibit P1 and other NIOS records with reference to the birth certificate issued by the statutory authority if the request is found to be genuine.

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b) The genuineness of the birth certificate of the petitioner and the name of the petitioner’s father can be ascertained from the respective local/statutory authority/Head of the institution or such other method, as the NIOS may deem fit.

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c) The NIOS can demand in advance a consolidated fee, which shall include expenses for processing the application.

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d) The petitioner shall pay a sum of Rs.3000/- as cost to the NIOS within a period of one month.

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Sd/-

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RAJA VIJAYARAGHAVAN V

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JUDGE

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DSV

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WP(C).No.22671 OF 2020 5

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APPENDIX

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PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS:

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EXHIBIT P1	TRUE COPY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL CERTIFICATE, BEARING REGISTRATION NO. REG. NO. 06/019414 (ROLL NO. M 40010162108) DATED 27.12.2017 AWARDED TO THE PETITIONER.
EXHIBIT P1(a)	TRUE COPY OF THE TRANSFER CERTIFICATE ISSUED TO THE PETITIONER(WITH TYPED COPY)
EXHIBIT P2	TRUE COPY OF CERTIFICATE NO. 268138 BEARING REG. NO. 7171370 ISSUED BY THE BOARD OF HIGHER SECONDARY EXAMINATION, GOVERNMENT OF KERALA.
EXHIBIT P3	TRUE COPY OF BIRTH CERTIFICATE ISSUED TO THE PETITIONER BY THE REGISTRAR OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS, KATTOOR GRAMA PANCHAYAT.(WITH TYPED COPY)
EXHIBIT P4	TRUE COPY OF ADHAR CARD BEARING NO.667282483956 ISSUED TO THE PETIITONER
EXHIBIT P5	TRUE COPY OF RELEVANT PAGE OF PASSPORT BEARING NO. U6772330 ISSUED TO THE PETITIONER.
EXHIBIT P6	TRUE COPY OF SOFT COPY, SHOWING THE REJECTION OF ONLINE APPLICATION OF THE PETITIONER.
EXHIBIT P7	TRUE COPY OF LR. NO. F 426/2/2019/NIOS/RC/SS/2866 DATED 14.10.2020 ISSUED BY THE 2ND RESPONDENT.

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REPONDENTS'/S EXHIBITS:

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//TRUE COPY// P.A TO JUDGE

Mohammed Roshan.E.a. v. the Director, National Institute of Open Schooling

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Mohammed Roshan.E.a. v. the Director, National Institute of Open Schooling

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