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Patna High Court

Shailesh Kumar vs State Of Bihar on 20 January, 2026

Author: Mohit Kumar Shah

Bench: Mohit Kumar Shah

           IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
                       Letters Patent Appeal No.644 of 2025
                                          In
                    Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.1279 of 2025
     ======================================================
     Shailesh Kumar S/o- Ram Bilash Chaurasia, Vi and P.O.- Bahuara, P.S.-
     Parihara, Distt. - Begusarai, Via- Khagaria, 851204 (M)- 7761880204,
     7909066556).

                                                               ... ... Appellant/s
                                        Versus
1.   State of Bihar (Through Secretary, Department of Education, Govt. of Bihar,
     Vikash Bhawan, Punaichak, Patna, Bihar - 800015)
2.   Bihar School Examination Board (Through Secretary, Bihar School
     Examination Board, Budha Marg, Patna, Bihar - 800001)
3.   Bihar State Bar Council (Through Secretary, Bihar State Bar Council, Bar
     Council Bhawan, East of Patna High Court, Patna, Bihar - 800001).

                                               ... ... Respondent/s
     ======================================================
     Appearance :
     For the Appellant/s   :       Mr.Shailesh Kumar (In Person)
     For the State         :       Mr. Sarvesh Kumar Singh, AAG-13
     For the BSEB          :       Mr.Siddhartha Prasad, Adv.
     ======================================================
     CORAM: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
             and
             HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE MOHIT KUMAR SHAH
     ORAL JUDGMENT
     (Per: HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE)

      Date : 20-01-2026

              This Letters Patent Appeal has been filed by the

      petitioner, namely Shailesh Kumar, who is an advocate of this

      Court, challenging the impugned order dated 6.5.2025, passed

      by the learned Single Judge in Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No.

      1279 of 2025.

      2.      The writ petition was filed seeking the following reliefs:-

                  "1(a). Direction to respondent no. 2 to provide matric
                  (class 10") secondary marks sheet for which petitioner
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                      has applied on 18/6/2018 and to take application for
                      secondary original certificate of matric (class 10th)
                      with proper fee and provide secondary original
                      certificate within reasonable time.
                      (b). Direction to respondent no.-3 the Bihar State Bar
                      Council to register to petitioner and provide
                      registration number. If they have doubt on the 10th
                      degree then they can verify it from Bihar School
                      Examination Board and/or S.M.H. School, Bela Simri,
                      Khagaria.
                      (c) Direction for compensation to petitioner for not
                      providing secondary marks sheet even when they
                      applied on 18/6/2018 and visited to BSEB Munger
                      regional office more than 20 times from June 2018 to
                      yet and faced harassment from last 6+ years."



         3.       Counter affidavit was filed by the Respondent No. 2

         wherein relevant paragraphs no. 8 to 18 are reproduced

         hereinbelow:-

                      "8. That it is submitted that from perusal of the writ
                      petition it is evident that the petitioner claims that he
                      has passed his Matriculation Examination 1996 (A),
                      under Roll Code-04304, Roll No.-0358 from S M
                      HIGH SCHOOL BELA SIMRI, Dist. - Khagaria,
                      conducted by the Bihar School Examination Board
                      (referred      to    as    'the   Board'   hereinafter)   and
                      accordingly the Marks sheet and Certificate was duly
                      been issued in his name. It is submitted that, it was
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                      however in the year 2013 the petitioner claims to have
                      lost his testimonials while travelling, including his
                      Matric (10th) Marks sheet and Certificate. That the
                      petitioner further claims that he also submitted a
                      complaint before Fatuha GRP in this regard but yet
                      the bag could not be recovered thereafter the
                      petitioner contends to have applied for issuance of
                      duplicate Secondary School Examination Marks Sheet
                      at the Munger Regional Office of the Board. Further,
                      it is submitted that petitioner also claims that in want
                      of the original Matriculation Marks sheet and
                      Certificate even his registration at the Bihar State Bar
                      Council has been kept pending.
                      9. That it is humbly submitted that it is after having
                      come to know of the issue so raised by the petitioner
                      that he has requested for the re-issuance of 10th
                      original Matriculation Marks sheet, for curing the
                      issue of the petitioner, a Five Member sub-committee
                      was constituted by the Board vide office order bearing
                      S.P. 352 dated 04.04.2025 to enquire into the matter
                      for getting the issue resolved at the earliest.
                      10. That it is submitted that in course of enquiry, the
                      said sub-committee, it is found that the details of the
                      candidate namely SHAILESH KUMAR i.e. present
                      petitioner had not been uploaded under the D.M.S.
                      data. That it had further also been found by the said
                      sub-committee that under the relevant Tabulation
                      Register, the pages containing the details of present
                      petitioner i.e. the candidate namely SHAILESH
                      KUMAR under Roll No. 0358 under Roll Code 4303
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                      have not been found compiled therein though the
                      details of other candidates starting from Roll No. 01 to
                      0307 under Roll Code-4303 have been found compiled
                      therein.
                      11. That it is submitted that with the intent to complete
                      the enquiry and to gather the required details (missing
                      from the relevant Tabulation Register at the Board)
                      that it was vide letter no. K. 617 dated 04.04.2025 the
                      Board asked the headmaster of the school concerned
                      to furnish the Original Cross List, which had further
                      also been reiterated by the Board vide letter No. BP-
                      0021 dated 7.4.2025.
                      12. That it is submitted that in response thereof, the
                      attested cross list along with the entire original cross
                      list was sent by S M HIGH SCHOOL BELA SIMRI,
                      Dist. Khagaria, (through the concerned D.E.O.) vide
                      letter no. 316 dated 07.04.2025 through special
                      messenger at the Board's head office.
                      13. That it is further submitted that in the said attested
                      complete cross list sent by S.M. High School Bela
                      Simri pertaining to secondary annual examination
                      1996, Roll No. 0333 to 0400 under roll code 4303
                      stood mentioned and at page No. 1099 roll No. 0358
                      of Shailesh Kumar (petitioner) S/o Ram Bilas
                      Chourasia with date of birth 1.3.1982 total marks
                      0324, second Division, had stood mentioned.
                      14. That in this respect it also not out of place to
                      submit here that the Roll Code 4303 was allotted to
                      altogether 13 school under the district of Khagaria
                      though under the relevant Tabulation Register,
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                      available at the Board, the details of the candidates
                      from Roll No. 01 to 0307 under said Roll Code 4303
                      have been found mentioned i.e. the details of the
                      candidates of altogether twelve schools, who were
                      allotted the said Roll Code - 4303, wherein the last
                      12th school namely S.C. High School, Labhgao,
                      Jalkaura, Khagaria got enrolled candidates starting
                      from Roll no. 0218 to 0307 under said Roll Code have
                      been found. Accordingly, it has been gathered that
                      relevant      page      under   the     Tabulation   Register
                      containing the details from Roll no. 0308 to Roll
                      No.0400, wherein the remaining candidate of S.C.
                      High School, Labhgao, Jalkaura, Khagaria from Roll
                      no. 0308 to 0332 and the candidates of S. M. HIGH
                      SCHOOL BELA SIMRI, Khagaria i.e. present
                      petitioner school starting from Roll no. 0333 to 0400,
                      either got torn or had not been compiled.
                      15. That it is further submitted that it was accordingly
                      after completing the enquiry the committee vide its
                      final report contained in memo no. BSEB/SS/AO
                      20/2025        dated       16.04.2025     recommended      to
                      immediately prepare the Duplicate Copy of Marks
                      Sheet pertaining to petitioner Secondary School
                      Examination 1996 on the basis of the Original Cross
                      List duly attested by the District Education Officer,
                      Khagaria and made available to the Board and
                      thereafter immediately supply it to the Candidate
                      namely SHAILESH KUMAR (Petitioner).
                      16. That it is submitted that accordingly a duplicate
                      copy of the Marks Sheet pertaining to petitioner
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                      Secondary School Examination 1996 (Annual) under
                      Roll Code 04303 Roll No. 0324, duly been got
                      prepared / printed and sent to the petitioner on his
                      official address i.e. SHAILESH KUMAR, S/O Ram
                      Bilash Chaurasia, Vill. Post Bahuara, P. S.-Parihara,
                      Distt. Begusarai, Via Khagaria, Bihar, PIN Code -
                      851204, by the Board vide its letter bearing BP-0026
                      dated 02.05.2025.
                      17. That it is submitted that from perusal from
                      Annexure P/4 which is the photocopy of the
                      application along with the receipt of fees deposited by
                      the petitioner for issuance of duplicate mark-sheet and
                      accordingly duplicate marksheet had duly been issued
                      to the petitioner.
                      18. That in view of above fact as stated, it is humbly
                      submitted that the grievance of the petitioner, insofar
                      as it related to the Board, has been redressed, though
                      some delay occurred in providing the duplicate copy
                      of the Marks Sheet pertaining to petitioner Secondary
                      School Examination 1996, however the same is
                      neither intentional or deliberate on the part of the
                      answering respondent which is apparent from the facts
                      mentioned above."


         4.       The learned Single Judge, after hearing the learned

         counsels for the respective parties, has been pleased to hold as

         follows:-

                      "5. Since the petitioner passed the examination in the
                      year 1996 and the matter was very old, the board
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                      constituted a five-member Sub-Committee vide office
                      order bearing No. 4425 to inquire into the matter for
                      getting the issue resolved at the earliest. During
                      course of inquiry, the committee has found that the
                      details of the candidate namely Shailesh Kumar had
                      not been uploaded under the DMS data. The Sub-
                      Committee also found that under the relevant
                      tabulation registration, the pages containing the
                      details of present petitioner, the candidate name, roll
                      number, roll code have not been found complied
                      therein. Though, the details of other candidates
                      starting from Roll No. 12307 under Roll Code 4303
                      have been found complied therein.
                      6. He further submits that in order to complete the
                      inquiry and to gather the required details, the Board
                      asked the Headmaster of the concerned school to
                      furnish the original cross list. In response to the same,
                      the school sent the original attested cross list and
                      entire original cross list through DO and special
                      messenger. The attested cross list pertaining to
                      Secondary Annual Examination 1996 sent by the
                      school under Roll No. 333 to 400 and under Roll
                      Code 4303, it was found that the petitioner passed in
                      second division having date of birth 01.03.1982. The
                      committee submitted its final report on 16.04.2025
                      recommending to prepare the duplicate copy of mark
                      sheet pertaining to the petitioner for the Annual
                      Examination 1996 on the basis of the original cross
                      list duly attested by DEO, Khagaria. Immediately
                      thereafter, on 02.05.2025 the mark sheet of the
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                      petitioner was sent on his official address through
                      office address vide letter dated 02.05.2025.
                      7. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and
                      have gone through the materials available on record.
                      The grievance of the petitioner for having duplicate
                      copy of the mark sheet has been fulfilled. The claim of
                      the petitioner for grant of compensation cannot be
                      allowed for the reasons that the certificate/mark sheet
                      of the petitioner lost in 2013 but he applied for
                      duplicate copy after five years in 2018. Since the
                      matter was very old i.e., of 1996, the Board took time
                      in order to search the details and ultimately issue was
                      resolved after forming a Sub-Committee which
                      submitted its report after calling the cross list from
                      the concerned school. There is no deliberate latches
                      and delay on part of the Board. The petitioner has not
                      made out a case of violation of his fundamental
                      rights."
         5.       The petitioner submits that stipulated period has been

         prescribed under the statute to provide the duplicate copy of the

         certificate but in the case in hand, the authorities took almost

         seven years to supply the duplicate certificate.

         6.       In the Letters Patent Appeal also, counter affidavit has

         been filed by the Respondent No. 2 i.e. the Law Officer of the

         Bihar School Examination Board, relevant paragraphs whereof

         being paras no. 7 to 18 are reproduced hereinbelow:-

                      "7. That it is humbly submitted that in the aforesaid
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                      backdrop it would be relevant to submit here that after
                      disposal       of    the        writ      petition,       the   present
                      appellant/petitioner had deposited the prescribed fee
                      of Rs 2500/- for the purposes of issuance of secondary
                      certificate at the Board vide receipt bearing ID
                      number 431070 dated 16/05/2025 (appended to
                      present memo of appeal as well).
                      8. That it is pertinent to mention here that it was
                      accordingly that the secondary certificate pertaining
                      to present appellant / petitioner namely SHAILESH
                      KUMAR's 'SECONDARY SCHOOL EXAMINATION
                      1996 got duly prepared and issued by the Printing
                      Cell of the Board and sent to the address provided by
                      the appellant petitioner through post bearing RF No.
                      435842339IN on 22/07/2025.
                      9. That it is pertinent to mention here that in view of
                      filing of present LPA appeal before the Hon'ble Court,
                      in the present context it is humbly submitted that the
                      answering        respondent            i.e.   the     Bihar     School
                      Examination          Board         craves           for     leave    to
                      produce/recapitulate the brief facts addressing to the
                      issues as raised by the present appellant/ petitioner
                      through the connecting writ & in present memo of
                      appeal so far as it relate to the Board, for
                      appreciation even at this stage.
                      10. That it is pertinent to mention here in this regard
                      that after receipt of the copy of connecting writ, the
                      matter of non-issuance of Duplicate Marks Sheet
                      pertaining to appellant/petitioner 1996 Matriculation
                      Examination taken up a very serious matter at the
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                      Board, since it was despite of receiving the requisite
                      amount and generating an ID in the matter viz. ID no.
                      2106811 for the purposes of issuance of Duplicate
                      Marks Sheet (appended as Annexure- P4 to writ
                      petition), the required Marks Sheet could not been
                      issued, accordingly the matter got enquired by
                      constituting a Five Member high level committee by
                      the Board vide office order bearing S.P. 352 dated
                      04.04.2025.
                      11

. That it is humbly submitted that it was accordingly in order to complete the enquiry and to gather the relevant information & missing details of the candidates concerned from the relevant Tabulation Register at the Board that it was vide letter no. K. 617 dated 04.04.2025 the Board asked the headmaster of the school concerned to furnish the Original Cross List sent to the school by the Board at the relevant point of time earlier.

12. That it is humbly submitted that in response thereof the Headmaster of S M HIGH SCHOOL BELA SIMRI, Dist. - Khagaria, vide its letter no. 315 dated 05.04.2025 sent only one page of the said Original Cross List containing details of candidates from Roll No. 0348 to 0362 under Roll Code-4303, it was however in order to clarify the factual matrix further in its totality that it was vide letter bearing BP-0021 dated 07.04.2025 the Board again asked the S M HIGH SCHOOL BELA SIMRI school to make available the complete Original Cross List containing details of candidates under Roll Code-4303. Patna High Court L.P.A No.644 of 2025 dt.20-01-2026 11/14

13. That is pertinent to mention here that it was accordingly in response that a duly attested copy of the said Original Cross List containing details of the candidates under Roll Code - 4303 from the District Education Officer had been sent to the Board by the school through its special messenger with its covering letter bearing letter no. 316 dated 07.04.2025.

14. That it is pertinent to mention here that from perusal of said Original Cross List pertaining to Secondary School Examination 1996, at page no. 1099, the details of the candidate concerned namely SHAILESH KUMAR i.e. present appellant / petitioner under Roll No. 0358 under Roll Code -4303, Father's Name RAM BILASH CHAURASIA, Date of Birth 01.03.1982, Total Marks obtained-0324, Division - IInd have been found inscribed therein.

15. That it is pertinent to mention here that the Roll Code-4303 was allotted to altogether 13 schools under the district of Khagaria though under the relevant Tabulation Register, available at th Board, the pages containing the details of the candidates from Roll no. 01 to 0307 under said roll Code-4303 had been found i.e. the details of the candidates of altogether twelve schools, who were allotted Roll No. 4303, wherein the last 12th school namely S.C. High School, Labhgao, Jalkaura, Khagaria having enrolled candidates starting from Roll no. 0218 to 0307 under said Roll Code had been found missing; accordingly it has been gathered that the some of the page under the Tabulation Register, containing the details from Roll Patna High Court L.P.A No.644 of 2025 dt.20-01-2026 12/14 no 0308 to Roll No.0400 i.e, the candidate of S.C. High School, Labhgao, Jalkaura, Khagaria from Roll no. 0308 to 0332 and the candidates of S. M HIGH SCHOOL BELA SIMRI, Khagaria i.e. present appellant/petitioner's school starting from Roll no. 0333 to 0400, either got torn or could not be compiled/attached therein.

16. That it is humbly submitted that it was accordingly after completing the enquiry the committee vide its final report contained in memo no.BSEB/SS/AO 20/2025 dated 16.04.2025 recommended to immediately prepare the Duplicate Copy of Marks Sheet pertaining to present appellant / petitioner's Secondary School Examination 1996 on the basis of the Original Cross List which was duly attested by the District Education Officer, Khagaria and make it available to the Board and thereafter immediately supply it to the candidate namely SHAILESH KUMAR (present appellant/Petitioner).

17. That it is humbly submitted that accordingly a duplicate copy of the Marks Sheet pertaining to present appellant / petitioner's Secondary School Examination 1996 (Annual) under Roll Code 04303 Roll No. 0324, duly been got prepared/printed and sent to the appellant/petitioner on his official address i.e. SHAILESH KUMAR, S/O - Ram Bilash Chaurasia, Vill. Post - Bahuara, P. S. Parihara, Distt. Begusarai, Via - Khagaria, Bihar, PIN Code 851204, by the Board vide its letter bearing BP-0026 dated 02.05.2025, which was admittedly received by him as Patna High Court L.P.A No.644 of 2025 dt.20-01-2026 13/14 well.

18. That it is humbly submitted that taking into account the standing fact that the grievance of the present appellant / petitioner stood redressed and finding that although some delay occurred in providing the copy of the Marks Sheet pertaining to his Secondary School Examination 1996, the same was neither intentional nor deliberate on the part of the Board."

7. After going through the averments made in the counter affidavit, we find that there is no laches on the part of the authorities concerned to supply the duplicate certificate. In an intra-Court appeal, the Division Bench should not interfere with the order of the learned Single Judge unless it reaches to a conclusion that the finding is perverse and merely because another view or a better view is possible, there should be no interference with or disturbance of the order, passed by the learned Single Judge. Letters Patent Appeal provides internal check and balance, ensuring judicial accountability and oversight and protects citizens rights allowing for a more thorough review of a Single Judge's decision.

8. After going through the pleadings, the stand taken by the Respondents in the counter affidavit, we find that there is no perversity in the impugned order. Therefore, the prayer of the Patna High Court L.P.A No.644 of 2025 dt.20-01-2026 14/14 petitioner in this Letters Patent Appeal cannot be entertained.

9. Accordingly, the present Letters Patent Appeal stands dismissed.

(Sangam Kumar Sahoo, CJ) ( Mohit Kumar Shah, J) Ajay/S.Sb-

AFR/NAFR
CAV DATE                NA
Uploading Date          21.01.2026
Transmission Date       NA