Full Judgment Text
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CASE NO.:
Appeal (civil) 4468 of 2002
Appeal (civil) 4469 of 2002
Appeal (civil) 4470 of 2002
PETITIONER:
KUSUM LATA
Vs.
RESPONDENT:
STATE OF HARYANA & ORS.
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 31/07/2002
BENCH:
Y.K. Sabharwal & H.K.Sema.
JUDGMENT:
Y.K.Sabharwal, J.
Leave granted.
The question to be determined in these matters is regarding the eligibility of the appellant
for seeking admission to the Diploma Course in Education in order of her merit. Does she s
atisfy the prescribed conditions or not? The answer would depend upon the interpretation o
f the clause prescribing eligibility condition.
The appellant passed the Senior School Certificate Examination from the Central Board of Sec
ondary Education (CBSE). The educational qualification for admission to the Diploma in Educ
ation (D.Ed) in the State of Haryana is as follows:
"A candidate should have passed 10+2 Examination from Board of School Education Haryana or i
ts equivalent examination from any other Board, recognized by Board of School Education, Har
yana with at least 50% aggregate marks."
The appellant applied for the D.Ed course. The details of marks obtained in 10+2 Examination
were furnished by the appellant in the application form and the respondents issued her admi
ssion card to appear in the written entrance test. She qualified the said test. Against th
e total number of 3200 seats, her rank was 1460th. After the declaration of the result
of the written entrance test the appellant appeared for interview. The appellant was told
that she was not eligible to appear in the written entrance test having not secured 50% aggr
egate marks in 10+2 examination of CBSE. According to the appellant she had secured 50% aggr
egate marks which was required to be seen from five subjects as the sixth subject was option
al as an additional subject, not necessary to be taken or passed for the purpose of qualifyi
ng 10+2 Examination. The appellant also showed to the respondents a letter dated 20th March
, 2001 issued by CBSE stating that to qualify the 10+2 Examination a student is required to
have requisite marks in five subjects and the sixth was an optional subject.
The denial of admission to the appellant resulted in her filing a writ petition before the
High Court. The High Court has held that there is no error in the actions of the respon
dents in declining admission to the appellant as she did not satisfy the minimum prescribed
percentage under the eligibility condition. The writ petition has been dismissed by the Hi
gh Court. The judgment of the High Court is under challenge in this appeal.
It is a common ground that if marks in all the six subjects for which the appellant had appe
ared are taken into consideration she will not be eligible as her aggregate in that event w
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ould be less than 50%. On the other hand, if marks of five subjects are considered, her agg
regate marks would be more than 50% and she will satisfy the prescribed condition of securin
g at least 50% aggregate marks in 10+2 Examination and she would be eligible.
There can be no doubt that the terms and conditions for admission to such courses are bindin
g and have to be strictly adhered to. The question, however, is what is the intent, purpose
and true spirit of the clause providing for securing at least 50% aggregate marks in 10+2 E
xamination so as to be eligible for admission to D.Ed course. The requirement is of securin
g at least 50% aggregate marks in 10+2 Examination either from Board of School Education, Ha
ryana or its equivalent examination from any other Board, recognized by Board of School Educ
ation, Haryana. It is not in dispute that the 10+2 examination conducted by CBSE is an equi
valent examination recognized by the Board of School Education, Haryana. It is clear and ca
nnot be disputed that as per the regulations of CBSE to qualify 10+2 examination, a candidat
e is required to obtain prescribed marks in five subjects and not six. The sixth subject is
treated as additional and optional. It is up to a candidate to take or not the sixth subje
ct. The relevant clauses in this regard read as under:
"3(a) To pass the examination, a candidate must obtain at least Grade D-2 in all subjects
of internal assessment unless the candidate is exempted and 33% marks or Grade D-2 in each o
f the five subjects of external examination as per scheme of studies.
(b) The additional subject offered by the candidate is not taken into account for passin
g the examination."
As per the scheme of examination of CBSE the marks obtained in the additional subjects are n
ot taken into consideration in the passing of the examination. The additional subject is op
tional. A candidate may take it or not. The requirement is that a candidate should obtain
33% marks or Grade D-2 in each of the five subjects of external examination as per the schem
e of the studies. When the eligibility clause stipulates that a candidate should have passe
d 10+2 examination with at least 50% aggregate marks, it is implicit that the aggregate mark
s are required to be calculated keeping in view only the subjects which are necessary to pas
s 10+2 examination and not the marks of the additional subject which is not taken into accou
nt for passing the examination. This is the only reasonable interpretation having regard to
the spirit of the clause providing for eligibility conditions. The relevant factor is to s
ee what is necessary to pass 10+2 examination conducted by CBSE and on that basis decide whe
ther a candidate fulfils or not the requirement of the eligibility clause. If seen from
this perspective, the aggregate marks would have to be worked out having regard to the mark
s obtained in five subjects and not in the additional subject which is not taken into accoun
t for passing the examination.
The admission card for appearing in written test was issued to the appellant who had furnish
ed with her application the details of the marks secured by her in 10+2 examination, she qua
lified that test. Further, the scheme for the examinations conducted by the Board of Seconda
ry Education, Haryana also shows that even in Haryana total of five subjects is taken and th
e sixth is treated as additional subject. The only difference is in the proforma in which t
he certificate in relation to examination is issued by Haryana and CBSE. By way of illustrat
ion we reproduce herein the proforma of the certificate issued by the Board of School Educat
ion, Haryana.
DETAILS OF MARKS
Subject Code
Subject
Marks Obtained
Maximum Marks
Minimum Pass Marks
502
HINDI CORE
046
100
033
501
ENGLISH CORE
063
100
033
900
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COMMERCE
047
100
33
903
ACCOUNTANCY
046
100
33
576
ECONOMICS
058
100
33
TOTAL
260
500
ADDITIONAL
SUBJECT
XXXXXXX
100
33
Total Marks obtained (in words) TWO HUNDRED SIXTY ONLY
MORAL EDUCATION THR PRT 036 045 081/100
SUPW GRADE EXCELLENT
(Details of Grading given on back)
Note: 1 Marks in additional subject and Moral education are not included in the total .
2. Indicates that the candidate has obtained distinction in the subjects.
BHIWANI
It would be seen from the above that the aggregate of five subjects is taken. The marks st
atement issued by CBSE to the appellant is as follows:
CODE
SUBJECT
TH
PR
TOTAL
TOTAL IN WORDS
POSITION GRADE
002
Hindi Elec.
xx
xx
50
Fifty five
B2
027
History
xx
xx
45
Forty five
C1
028
Political Sc
xx
xx
39
Thirty nine
D1
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048
Physical Edu.
21
35
56
Fifty six
D2
064
Home Sc.
41
27
68
Sixty eight
B2
301
English Core
xx
xx
33
Thirty three
D2
500
Work Experience
A2
502
Phy.and Health
Edu.
A2
503
General Studies
B1
The only difference in the marks-sheet issued by the CBSE is that it does not show total aft
er five subjects and in fact no total is shown. The relevant consideration is not the mann
er of issue of the marks-sheet or the different proforma which may be adopted by one Board o
r the other but to go into real object behind the clause. As already stated, the objec
t of the clause prescribing the eligibility condition is that the qualifying examination sha
ll be passed by a candidate with at least 50% marks. A candidate on securing requisite mar
ks would pass without taking the sixth subject. There would have been no difficulty i
f the proforma of CBSE was similar to the one adopted by Haryana. In that eventuality it w
ould not have been possible to decline admission to the appellant on the ground for her not
satisfying minimum prescribed percentage under the eligibility condition. This kind of
approach would be arbitrary and discriminatory. Thus, the interpretation placed by the High
Court is hyper-technical and erroneous. We are unable to sustain the said interpretation.
The appellant satisfies the eligibility stipulation and the respondents committed serious
illegality in declining her admission to D.Ed course.
For the aforesaid reasons, we set aside the impugned judgment of the High Court and hold tha
t the appellants satisfy the prescribed condition of securing 50% aggregate marks and were t
hus eligible. Therefore, we direct the respondents to grant admission to the appellants in
diploma course in education. The appeals are accordingly allowed. The parties are lef
t to bear their own costs.
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