IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE T.R.RAMACHANDRAN NAIR MONDAY, THE 5TH APRIL 2010 / 15TH CHAITHRA 1932 WP(C).No. 10555 of 2010(T) -------------------------- PETITIONER(S): --------------- E.O.VARGHESE, ELAVATHINGAL HOUSE,ANGAMALY P.O., ERNAKULAM DISTRICT,PIN-683572 BY ADV. SRI.WILSON URMESE RESPONDENT(S): --------------- 1. CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, REGIONAL OFFICE, NEW PLOT NO.3, 16TH MAIN ROAD,ANNA NAGAR (WEST),CHENNAI-600040, REPRESENTED BY ITS DEPUTY SECONDARY/REGIONAL OFFICE. 2. THE PRINCIPAL, ADAM PUBLIC SCHOOL, ANGAMALY-683572 R1 BY S.C. SHRI DEVAN RAMANCHANDRAN THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 05/04/2010, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: T.R. Ramachandran Nair, J. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - W.P.(C) No. 10555 of 2010-T - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dated this the 5th day of April, 2010. JUDGMENT The petitioner's son was a regular student of Adam Public School, Angamaly. The correct date of birth of his son is 26.3.1993. He has already passed the All India Secondary School Examination 2009 conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education with Roll No.41355511. Ext.P1 is the copy of the birth certificate issued by the Registrar of Births and Deaths, Angamaly Municipality. 2. In the school records, the date of birth of the petitioner's son was wrongly entered as 26.4.1993. It appears that a mistake has occurred when the parents made an inadvertent mistake in restating the date of birth. After getting copy of Ext.P2 certificate, an application was made as per Ext.P3, for correcting the date of birth. The proforma was forwarded as instructed by the respondents, as per Ext.P4. The same was forwarded with a covering letter Ext.P5. The petitioner was informed by Ext.P6 that in the light of Articles 69.2(i) and 69.2.(iv) of the Examination Byelaws, no correction can be made. The petitioner is relying upon a decision of a Division Bench of this Court in W.A. No.1948/2008 and connected cases wpc 10555/2010 2 (Ext.P7), in which a direction was issued to correct the date of birth in the school records. 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 wpc 10555/2010 3 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. 3. In the light of the directions issued the Division Bench in the wpc 10555/2010 4 above judgment, the petitioner is entitled to succeed in this writ petition. Therefore, Ext.P4 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 third respondent and to effect correction in the school records relating to the petitioner. Respondents 1 and 2 shall issue a corrected copy of Ext.P2 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/