Bombay High Court
Mr.Mohd.Shahabudin Mohd. ... vs The Deputy Director Of Education on 8 March, 2013
Author: S.J. Vazifdar
Bench: S.J. Vazifdar, Mridula Bhatkar
wp9446-11
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION NO.9446 OF 2011
Mr.Mohd.Shahabudin Mohd. Shafiurrahman
Age Adu,t Occupation Service,
Resident of Flat No.3, Building No.7,
Kauser Baugh Kondhwa Khurd,
Pune - 411 048. ...Petitioner
..Versus..
1) The Deputy Director of Education,
Pune Region, Pune - 411 001.
2) Divisional Secretary,
Pune Division, Maharashtra State SSC
& HSC Board,
Pune - 411 005
3) State of Maharashtra
(through the Government Pleader
High Court, Bombay) ...Respondents
Mr.Harshad Palwe with Mr.Amol Wagh for the Petitioner.
Ms.M.S. Bane, A.G.P. for the State - Respondent Nos.1 and 3.
Mr.Kiarn Gandhi i/b Little & Co. for Respondent No.2.
CORAM : S.J. VAZIFDAR &
MRS.MRIDULA BHATKAR, JJ.
DATE : 8TH MARCH, 2013.
JUDGMENT :(PER S.J. VAZIFDAR, J.) :-
1. The petitioner seeks a writ of certiorari to quash an order 1/7 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 19:43:27 ::: wp9446-11 dated 25.10.2007 passed by respondent No.2 - Divisional Secretary, Pune Division, Maharashtra State SSC and HSC Board, rejecting his application dated 10.10.2007 for having his name corrected in the Higher Secondary School certificate examination mark-sheet.
Respondent No.1 is The Deputy Director of Education and respondent No.3 is the State of Maharashtra.
2. The petitioner claims that a Higher Secondary School Certificate / examination mark sheet and a school leaving certificate referred to in this petition were issued to him. His case is this. His name on the Higher Secondary School certificate / examination mark-sheet issued by an institution in Pune Maharashtra is :-
"SHAIKH MOHAMMAD SHAHABUDDIN MOHAMMAD SHAFIURRAHMAN". He seeks to have it corrected by deleting the first name "SHAIKH" therefrom. In respect of the application, he relies upon his school leaving certificate issued by a school in Darbhanga, Bihar. The petitioner addressed a letter dated 04.11.2006 to the Principal (Junior College) Pune College of Arts, Science and Commerce, from which he passed the HSC examination in March,1997 to correct his name as aforesaid. He stated that at the time of interviews, he was asked about the mismatch in his name on the SSC and HSC examination certificates and he has a result thereof, lost many job opportunities.
2/7 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 19:43:27 :::wp9446-11 The Pune College by a letter dated 07.11.2006 requested the Deputy Director for permission to make the necessary correction in the Junior College register.
3. By the impugned order, respondent No.2 rejected the application. We are informed that the impugned order, as translated, indicates that the application was rejected on the ground that when the application was made, the petitioner had left the school. Rules 26.1 to 26.4 which fall under the heading "Entries in the General Register". Rules 26.3 and 26.4 read as under :-
"26.3 No alternation in the date of birth or other entries in the General Register, including correction of spelling shall be allowed without the previous permission of the appropriate authority. No such alteration in the figure of Date of Birth shall, however, be allowed even with such permission after the students has left secondary school. This shall not however preclude correction of obvious mistakes, that is the date of a particular month which does not exist in the calendar. Before giving sanction to correct spelling or the obvious mistake in figures, the same shall be verified with the original evidence, if any, produced at the time of making the relevant entry. When such an alteration is made on the strength of the written order of the said authority an entry to that effect shall be made in the remarks column of the General Register by writing the number and date of the order of the said authority. The written order shall be preserved as permanent record.
26.4. Application for change or correction of date of birth, name, surname, caste etc. as entered in the General Register shall be entertained from or on behalf of a pupil who is attending a school. Such application shall not be entertained from or on behalf of a pupil, who has left the school, as the same 3/7 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 19:43:27 ::: wp9446-11 amounts not only to a change in the entries in the General Register but also to a change in the School Leaving Certificate. However, for the purposes like an admission to another educational institution the School Leaving Certificate is relied upon as an evidence for name, surname, caste, date of birth etc., and hence in bona-fide cases where wrong spelling of a word or an obvious mistake of the type mentioned in sub-rule 3 above is noticed any time after issue of the School Leaving Certificate and the same is required to be corrected so as to be consistent with the corresponding entries in the General Register of the school or those in the School Leaving Certificate issued by the previous school, such applications shall be entertained. The procedure to be followed in such cases is laid down in Appendix Six."
4. The first sentence of rule 26.3 refers not merely to the date of birth, but to "other entries in the general register" as well. The phrase "other entries" would include the name of a candidate. This is evident from the first sentence of rule 26.3, which refers to the "correction of spelling". Thus correction in the name of a person may be made with the previous permission of the authority. The next sentence indeed provides that no such alteration in the figure of date of birth shall be allowed after the student has left the secondary school. This sentence therefore, does not bar a correction except with respect to the date of birth. Even in that case, the corrections of obvious mistakes is not precluded. Indeed any correction can be carried out only after verification.
5. The first sentence of rule 26.4 relates to the application for correction inter-alia of a name and surname in respect of a pupil who 4/7 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 19:43:27 ::: wp9446-11 is attending the school". When the petitioner made the application, he had already left the HSC school. The second sentence of rule 26.4 prohibits such an application being entertained from or on behalf of the pupil who has left the school. The next sentence however, is in the nature of proviso or explanation to this general rule. It recognizes that for purposes "like an admission" to another educational institution the school leaving certificate is relied upon as an evidence for name, surname ...... etc." The word "like" indicates that the school leaving certificate is relied upon not merely for admission to another educational institution but for like purposes as well. It is well known that school leaving certificates are required for various other purposes such as while seeking employment. Employers often seek evidence of educational qualifications. Rule 26.4 contemplates the necessity of the persons relying upon their school leaving certificates, as evidence of their name, surname etc. for various purposes and not merely for seeking admission to other educational institution.
6. Cases which are bona-fide obvious mistakes "of the type mentioned in sub-rule 3 " can be corrected. An incorrect name would fall within the ambit of rules 26.3 and 26.4.
7. The expression "correction of spelling" in rule 26.3 is not restricted to a spelling error in a name or any part of a name already on record. It would include the incorrect addition or absence of a part 5/7 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 19:43:27 ::: wp9446-11 or a component in the full / entire name. It would, for instance include a case where the surname is missing or, as in the present case a part of the name is inadvertently added. In effect the phrase "correction of spelling" refers to the correction in the name of any sort.
8. Lastly, rule 26.4 contemplates a correction so as to be consistent with the corresponding entries in the general registrar of the school or those in the school leaving certificate issued by the previous school. The petitioner's case falls within the latter part. The petitioner seeks a correction of his name in the HSC certificate so as to be consistent with the school leaving certificate issued by his previous school viz. "Rajkiakrut Uccha Vidyalaya Nehra, Darbhanga.
9. We are however, not inclined to correct the name ourselves. These are serious matters in the first instance to be considered by the proper authorities after due verification. It must be ensured that the applicant is actually the person to whom or in whose favour the certificate was given. It is not a matter to be decided mechanically. An incorrect change in the name is or in any event may be of far greater and serious consequences than an incorrect change in the date of birth. The procedure is prescribed in the last sentence of rule 26.4.
10. The writ petition is disposed of by the following order :-
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i). Respondent no.2 shall consider the petitioner's application for change in the name in the HSC certificate in accordance with law and after proper verification. The application shall not be rejected on the ground that when it was made, the petitioner had left the said school.
No order as to costs.
(MRS.MRIDULA BHATKAR, J.) (S.J. VAZIFDAR, J.) 7/7 ::: Downloaded on - 09/06/2013 19:43:27 :::