IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE T.R.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR MONDAY, THE 15TH MARCH 2010 / 24TH PHALGUNA 1931 WP(C).No. 6604 of 2010(A) -------------------------------------- PETITIONER(S): ------------------------ L. AMBARESH, S/O.G. LAKSHMANA KURUP, 'UTHRADAM', M.C.NO.23/414, VIDYA NAGAR, KOTTAKKAKOM WARD, KOLLAM - 13. BY ADV. MR.ANCHAL C.VIJAYAN RESPONDENT(S): -------------------------- 1. CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, REPRESENTED BY THE CHAIRMAN, COMMUNITY CENTER, PREETHI VIHAR, DELHI - 110 092. 2. CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, REGIONAL OFFICE NO.III, J.BLOCK, ANNA NAGAR, CHENNAI -40, REPRESENTED BY THE DEPUTY SECRETARY. 3. THE PRINCIPAL, LABOUR INDIA PUBLIC SCHOOL, MARANGATTUPILLY, KOTTAYAM, PIN - 686 635. R1 & R2 BY ADV. MR.DEVAN RAMACHANDRAN. THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 15/03/2010,THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: rs. T.R. Ramachandran Nair, J. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - W.P.(C) No. 6604 of 2010-A - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dated this the 15th day of March, 2010. JUDGMENT The petitioner is aggrieved by Ext.P8, whereby the application for correction of date of birth was rejected by the Central Board of Secondary Education, by relying upon the clauses in the Examination Byelaws. 2. The petitioner is a second year Engineering student of C.S.I. Institute of Technology and Engineering, Thevalay, Nagarcoil, Tamil Nadu. Upto 7th standard the petitioner studied in Infant Jesus Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Thankassery, Kollam. After that he joined in the Labour India Public School, Marangattupilly, Kottayam and passed the All India Secondary School Examination 2006 with Roll No.4130326. Ext.P1 is the true copy of the certificate. 3. The correct date of birth of the petitioner is 10.2.1990. The certificate issued from Kollam corporation has been produced as Ext.P2. But as per the school admission register, the date of birth entered is 10.12.1990. After realising the mistake, the petitioner produced the correct birth certificate issued from the Kollam corporation and got corrected the date of birth of the petitioner in the admission register of Infant Jesus Anglo wpc6604 /2010 2 Indian Higher Secondary School, Kollam. Ext.P3 is the copy of Transfer Certificate issued by the Principal of the said school stating that his date of birth is 10.2.1990, as per the school records. In the school admission register of the Labour India Public School also, the said correction has been incorporated which are evidenced by Exts.P6 and P7. Ext.P8 is the communication dated 26.6.2008 issued by the second respondent to the third respondent rejecting the application for correction of date of birth. 4. In this writ petition, the petitioner seeks for a direction to the respondents to make necessary correction regarding the date of birth entered in Ext.P1 certificate. 5. Heard learned Standing Counsel for the CBSE. What is mentioned in Ext.P8 as the reason for rejection is that the date of birth in the school records is reflected as 10.12.1990 and the same is printed in Board's certificate. The request for correction in the date of birth cannot be considered and is rejected as per rule 69.2(i) of the Examination Bye laws of the Board. 6. This Court has already considered similar matters in various writ petitions. The view taken in Ext.P8 cannot be supported in the light of the various judgments of this Court including W.A. No.1948/2008 and connected cases. In W.A. No.1948/2008 and connected cases, a Division wpc6604 /2010 3 Bench of this Court considered the matter elaborately. In the said case, this Court had passed an interim order on 1.4.2009, para 4 of which reads as follows: “After having heard the learned counsel appearing on both sides, we are of the view that in the interest of justice the matter should be considered afresh by the CBSE itself. Therefore, without proceeding further as regards the question of law involved in these cases as to whether the Examination Bye-laws of the CBSE is directory or mandatory in nature, we feel that in the interest of the poor students who are placed in the unfortunate situations referred to above, the CBSE should consider their cases sympathetically, as has been done in the case of students referred to in the judgment of the Supreme Court referred to above. After all, the correction is not for any undue or unmerited advantage like extension in service; but only for reconciling the date of birth as appearing in the Register of Registrar of Births and Deaths. In the above circumstances, we direct the CBSE to consider the case of the students referred to in these cases sympathetically, leaving open the question of law, and consider whether in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the situations referred to in each case, correction in the date of birth can be permitted. We make it clear that these directions are issued only in view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of these cases, and not as a general conditions.” In the judgment, the Division Bench referred to an affidavit filed by the wpc6604 /2010 4 CBSE on 4.8.2009 in the said case, wherein it was stated that pursuant to the direction issued by this Court the appellant therein had constituted a committee and the committee has decided to take appropriate action for correction of the date of birth. Relevant communication addressed by the CBSE to the Regional Office, Chennai was extracted in the said judgment wherein condition No.1 is the recommendation to correct the date of birth of the candidates who had applied to CBSE after two years as stipulated in the CBSE bye-laws and condition No.2 is to change the date of birth of the candidates who had the birth certificate which is issued by the statutory body so that they may not face any difficulty on account of inconsistent date of birth in different documents. It is clear from the said communication that the recommendation of the committee has been approved by the competent authority of the CBSE. Accordingly, the Division Bench directed the CBSE to take action for the correction of date of birth in the school records, within two weeks from the date of production of a copy of the judgment. Any outer time limit provided in the byelaws for entertaining an application cannot be taken as a bar for exercise of power and the period provided can only be termed as a period for the convenience of the administrative authorities alone. Herein, certain school records have been corrected already. wpc6604 /2010 5 7. In the light of the directions issued the Division Bench in the above judgment, the petitioner is entitled to succeed in this writ petition. Therefore, Ext.P8 is quashed. There will be a direction to respondents 1 and 2 to verify the particulars in terms of the birth certificate in original issued by the Kollam Corporation to effect correction in the school records relating to the petitioner. Respondents 1 and 2 shall issue a corrected copy of Ext.P1 to the petitioner within one month from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. The writ petition is disposed of as above. No costs. (T.R. Ramachandran Nair, Judge.) kav/