Punjab-Haryana High Court
Sahil Soni vs Central Board Of Secondary Education on 13 August, 2013
Author: Rakesh Kumar Jain
Bench: Rakesh Kumar Jain
CWP No.14946 of 2013 -1-
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT
CHANDIGARH
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CWP No.14946 of 2013
Date of Decision: 13.08.2013
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Sahil Soni
. . . .Petitioner
Versus
Central Board of Secondary Education
. . . . Respondent
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CORAM: HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE RAKESH KUMAR JAIN
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Present: Mr.Vikash Chatrath, Advocate,
for the petitioner.
Mr.Harsh Aggarwal, Advocate,
for the respondent.
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RAKESH KUMAR JAIN, J.
The case of the petitioner is that he appeared in JEE-Main examination conducted by respondent in April, 2013 and secured All India overall rank 103136 and the state rank 984. The score card of the petitioner in the entrance examination is 125. According to him, the scorecard of the candidates was published on 7.5.2013 of Paper-I without normalization. It is alleged that as per the evaluation 4 marks were to be given for each correct answer and 1/4th mark i.e. 1 mark was to be deducted for incorrect response. The petitioner applied for OMR sheets, calculation sheets answer key, which was provided to him on 3.7.2013. According to the petitioner, there was three questions namely, CWP No.14946 of 2013 -2- Question No.13, 68 and 76, out of which he had submitted correct answers to question No.13 & 76, while question No.68 was ambiguous and could not have been solved without any assumption. According to the petitioner, he has been given score of 15 marks less i.e. 4 marks each for the correct answer and the negative marking of the 1 mark. He claimed 5 marks on account of ambiguous question out of 15 marks.
The case set up by the petitioner is that the correct answer of question No.13, the correct answer as per the petitioner is Option No.1 whereas as according to CBSC it is Option No.4, in respect of question No.68, the correct answer is Option No.4 but as per the CBSC it is option No.1, and in respect of question No.76, the correct answer is Option No.3 and as per the CBSC it is option No.4.
It is alleged that as per the answer key provided by the FIIT-JEE, the answer of question No.13 is option No.1 as given by the petitioner and answer for question No.76 is option No.3 as well, as given by the petitioner and with regard to question No.68, it has been observed by the FIIT-JEE that the question is ambiguous. In this background, the petitioner has submitted that the merit list of all the candidates be re-determined by referring the matter to an expert committee while referring to a decision to this Court in LPA No.1338 of 2012 titled as "Haryana Public Service Commission Vs. Jitender Kumar and Others" decided on 3.12.2012. CWP No.14946 of 2013 -3-
In reply filed by the respondent, it is averred that no one has challenged the answer key except the petitioner and one student from Delhi, who had filed WP(C) 4323 of 2012 which has been dismissed on 10.7.2013. It is also averred that scores were declared on 7.5.2013 and the rank was published thereafter on the basis of which almost all the counseling for IITs, NITs and all National and State level Colleges, is over. At this stage, the answer key of the result can not be disturbed since the admissions are already over. It was also averred that answer key has been prepared by the experts of the IITs/NITs, experts of the National Engineering colleges and the petitioner is challenging the answer key on the basis of assumptions.
Petitioner filed an additional affidavit to place on record the observations of the subject experts from the Punjab University, Punjab Engineering College etc. in support of his contention that the answers given by the petitioner are correct and the answer key of the respondent is incorrect.
In response, the respondent has also placed on record the report of the answer key pertaining to the disputed questions by the professors of the IIT, Delhi, which is in consonance with the answer key prepared by respondent.
After hearing learned counsel for the parties and perusing the record, I am of the considered opinion that the petitioner has been agitating about the incorrect answer key pertaining to questions No.13, 68 and 76 and has produced CWP No.14946 of 2013 -4- on record reports in this regard by some experts whereas respondent has also placed on record the answer key of their experts.
In the case of "Master Gautam Bathala Vs. Central Board of Secondary Education" in W.P. (C) 4323 of 2013 decided on 10.7.2013, following decision has been taken by the Delhi High Court: -
"The learned counsel appearing for the respondent CBSE states on instructions that under the scheme evolved by CBSE, the answer key is uploaded on the website of the organization so as to received feedback from the candidates who appeared in the examination. The feedback so received by CBSE is then placed before the experts for consideration. If the experts on consideration of the feedback find that any answer contained in the answer sheet was not a correct answer, the answer key would be modified accordingly, but if the experts are of the view that the answer contained in the answer key is a correct answer, no modification in the answer key is made.
CWP No.14946 of 2013 -5- It is for the experts and not for the Courts to go into the correctness or otherwise of the answers contained in the answer-key. Since the experts appointed by CBSE have already reviewed the answer key on the basis of the feedback received from the candidates, there is no scope for interference by the Court in exercise of its writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution."
The aforesaid decision also pertains to the same examination i.e. JEE-Mains examination 2013 in which the dispute was with regard to the correctness of some question.
In the facts and circumstances of the case, I also have the same opinion, which has been expressed by the Dehli High Court in the case of Master Gautam Bathala (Supra) that it is for the experts of the CBSE to look into the matter and if they are of the opinion that the answer key is correct, there is no scope for interference by the Court.
In the present case, the expert of the respondents have already given their opinion, brought on record by the respondent, which is in consonance with the original answer key prepared by the CBSE/respondent. Moreover, learned counsel for the respondent has also relied upon a decision of the Supreme Court in the case of "Kanpur University and CWP No.14946 of 2013 -6- others Vs. Samir Gupta and others" AIR 1983 Supreme Court 1230, in which it has been decided that in case of doubt unquestionably the key answer has to be preferred.
Even looking from another angle, on the basis of the scores of all the students have been published on 17.5.2013, all the counseling for IITs, NITs and all National and State level Colleges, is also over.
Thus, in view thereof, I do not find any merit in the present writ petition and the same is hereby dismissed.
(RAKESH KUMAR JAIN) 13.08.2013 JUDGE Vivek Pahwa Vivek 2013.08.14 14:42 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document