The High Court of Kerala disposed of this writ appeal by directing the appellant, CBSE, to consider the first respondent's application for correction of date of birth in his examination certificate, relying on the Supreme Court's ruling in Jigya Yadav.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR.S.MANIKUMAR
&
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE SHAJI P.CHALY
WEDNESDAY, THE 15TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2021 / 24TH BHADRA, 1943
WA NO. 1176 OF 2021
AGAINST THE JUDGMENT IN WP(C) 13958/2020 OF HIGH COURT OF KERALA, ERNAKULAM
DATED 7.10.2020
APPELLANTS/RESPONDENTS 1 TO 3 & ADDL.5TH RESPONDENT IN WPC:
BY ADV SRI.NIRMAL S., SC, CBSE
RESPONDENTS:
ADV.SRI.K.SIJU KAMALASANAN FOR R1
THIS WRIT APPEAL HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 15.09.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
W.A.No.1176 of 2021
:: 2 ::
JUDGMENT
S.MANIKUMAR, C.J.
Challenging the judgment dated 07.10.2020 in W.P.(C)No.13958 of 2020, this appeal is filed. The writ petitioner/first respondent sought for correction of date of birth in Ext.P1 Certificate as 21.02.1989 in accordance with Ext.P2 birth certificate issued by the statutory authority.
“ CONCLUSION AND DIRECTIONS TO CBSE
W.A.No.1176 of 2021
:: 3 ::
it can certainly insist for compliance of other conditions by the incumbent, such as, to file sworn affidavit making necessary declaration and to indemnify the CBSE from any claim against it by third party because of such correction. The CBSE would be justified in insisting for surrender/return of the original certificate (or duplicate original certificate, as the case may be) issued by it for replacing it with the fresh certificate to be issued after carrying out necessary corrections with caption/ annotation against the changes carried out and the date of such correction. It may retain the original entries as it is except in respect of correction of name effected in exercise of right to be forgotten. The fresh certificate may also contain disclaimer that the CBSE cannot be held responsible for the genuineness of the school records produced by the incumbent in support of the request to record correction in the original CBSE certificate. The CBSE can also insist for reasonable prescribed fees to be paid by the incumbent in lieu of administrative expenses for issuing fresh certificate. At the same time, the CBSE cannot impose precondition of applying for correction consistent with the school records only before publication of results. Such a condition, as we have held, would be unreasonable and excessive. We repeat that if the application for recording correction is based on the school records as it obtained at the time of publication of results and issue of certificate by the CBSE, it will be open to CBSE to provide for reasonable limitation period within which the application for recording correction in certificate issued by it may be entertained by it. However, if the
W.A.No.1176 of 2021
:: 4 ::
request for recording change is based on changed school records post the publication of results and issue of certificate by the CBSE, the candidate would be entitled to apply for recording such a change within the reasonable limitation period prescribed by the CBSE. In this situation, the candidate cannot claim that she had no knowledge about the change recorded in the school records because such a change would occur obviously at her instance. If she makes such application for correction of the school records, she is expected to apply to the CBSE immediately after the school records are modified and which ought to be done within a reasonable time. Indeed, it would be open to the CBSE to reject the application in the event the period for preservation of official records under the extant regulations had expired and no record of the candidate concerned is traceable or can be reconstructed. In the case of subsequent amendment of school records, that may occur due to different reasons including because of choice exercised by the candidate regarding change of name. To put it differently, request for recording of correction in the certificate issued by the CBSE to bring it in line with the school records of the incumbent need not be limited to application made prior to publication of examination results of the CBSE.
W.A.No.1176 of 2021
:: 5 ::
documents like Birth Certificate, Aadhaar Card/Election Card, etc. and to incorporate change in the CBSE certificate consistent therewith. The second possibility is when the request for change is due to the acquired name by choice at a later point of time. That change need not be backed by public documents pertaining to the candidate.
(a) Reverting to the first category, as noted earlier, there is a legal presumption in relation to the public documents as envisaged in the 1872 Act. Such public documents, therefore, cannot be ignored by the CBSE. Taking note of those documents, the CBSE may entertain the request for recording change in the certificate issued by it. This, however, need not be unconditional, but subject to certain reasonable conditions to be fulfilled by the applicant as may be prescribed by the CBSE, such as, of furnishing sworn affidavit containing declaration and to indemnify the CBSE and upon payment of prescribed fees in lieu of administrative expenses. The CBSE may also insist for issuing Public Notice and publication in the Official Gazette before recording the change in the fresh certificate to be issued by it upon surrender/return of the original certificate (or duplicate original certificate, as the case may be) by the applicant. The fresh certificate may contain disclaimer and caption/annotation against the original entry (except in respect of change of name effected in exercise of right to be forgotten) indicating the date on which change has been recorded and the basis thereof. In other words, the fresh certificate may retain original particulars while recording the change along with caption/annotation
W.A.No.1176 of 2021
:: 6 ::
referred to above (except in respect of change of name effected in exercise of right to be forgotten).
(b) However, in the latter situation where the change is to be effected on the basis of new acquired name without any supporting school record or public document, that request may be entertained upon insisting for prior permission/declaration by a Court of law in that regard and publication in the Official Gazette including surrender/ return of original certificate (or duplicate original certificate, as the case may be) issued by CBSE and upon payment of prescribed fees. The fresh certificate as in other situations referred to above, retain the original entry (except in respect of change of name effected in exercise of right to be forgotten) and to insert caption/annotation indicating the date on which it has been recorded and other details including disclaimer of CBSE. This is so because the CBSE is not required to adjudicate nor has the mechanism to verify the correctness of the claim of the applicant.
W.A.No.1176 of 2021
:: 7 ::
recording correction or change, as the case may be, in the certificates already issued or to be issued by it.
the appellants to consider the application filed by the writ petitioner/first respondent for the correction of date of birth as held in Jigya Yadav (supra) .
Writ appeal is disposed of.
SD/S.MANIKUMAR CHIEF JUSTICE
SD/SHAJI P. CHALY JUDGE
jes
1 issue framed by the court
Whether to direct the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to consider the application for correction of date of birth in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment in Jigya Yadav.
Colour shows how this judgement treated each authority
Jigya Yadav v. C.B.S.E.Followed¶26
Jigya Yadav v. C.B.SE [2021(3) KLT 711 (SC)]
Secretary, CBSE
Jithin H.S.
S. Manikumar
Shaji P. Chaly
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
