The Delhi High Court on Monday reversed an order of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and allowed a Class 10 student to sit for board exams. The girl was not allowed to appear for the exam due to late submission of domicile certificate. The court pronounced the judgement in favour of the student noting that it was "unthinkable" and "unacceptable" to prohibit a student from appearing in the exam after issuing the admit card. The student was later given extra time to complete the paper to compensate the time for which she had to wait outside the examination hall.
News agency PTI quoted the High Court as saying, "After issuing the admit card, stopping the student from entering the examination hall is unthinkable. The CBSE has no right to do so. This is completely unacceptable. The CBSE is expected to be vigilant regarding the entitlement of the students to appear in the examination." The High Court also clarified that any other student who has been held up outside the hall due to absence of domicile certificate will also be entitled to undertake the examination with extension of time.
Speaking for the student, Justice C Hari Shankar said, "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." He further noted that the requirement of the domicile certificate was first issued this year. Many students who wanted to apply for the examination were not aware of the need to upload a domicile certificate till the issuance of the notice by the CBSE on September 5, 2023.
The court ruled, "The petitioner uploaded her application form for appearing in the Class 10 examination on the CBSE website on October 3, 2023. Since the student did not have a domicile certificate with her at that time, she applied for the same in December 2023. The certificate was actually obtained by her on 24 January 2024. As the certificate could not be uploaded on the website of the CBSE at that time, she physically submitted the certificate to the CBSE on January 31, 2024. She was issued an admit card, permitting her to appear in the examination on 15 February 2024."
The High court noted that the petitioner has undertaken the first paper of her Class 10 examination on 21 February 2024. She was, however, stopped at the entrance of the examination hall for the second exam held on February 26, 2024.The High Court passed the direction on the petition moved by a minor student through her mother.
