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1. This writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution has been filed by 175 students of Smt. Harpyari Devi Inter College, Rohai, district Hathras (Mahamaya Nagar) praying that a direction be issued to Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad, U. P. (Board of High School and Intermediate Education, Allahabad) to allot roll numbers to them and to permit them to appear in the High School examination which was scheduled to commence on 18.3.2002.

2. There is an institution known as Smt. Harpyari Devi Inter College, Rohai, district Hathras (Mahamaya Nagar) (hereinafter referred to as the institution), which is recognised by the Board of High School and Intermediate Education, U. P., Allahabad (hereinafter referred to as the Board) in accordance with U. P. Intermediate Education Act, 1921 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The institution, however, does riot receive grant-in-aid from the State Government. The writ petitioners claim that they are regular students of High School class in the institution and they filled up the examination forms for the High School, examination and also deposited the examination fee with the principal of the Institution. The Principal of the institution, thereafter, forwarded the examination forms and the examination fee to the District Inspector of Schools, Hathras (for short D.I.O.S.) on 7.8.2001. The High School examination was scheduled to commence on 18.3.2002. The Board allots the roll numbers to the students for the purpose of appearing in the examination and a communication in that regard is sent to the institution. Shortly before the commencement of examination, the petitioners came to know that the Board had not allotted any roll number to them due to which they cannot appear in the examination. The writ petition was accordingly filed by the petitioners praying for allotment of roll numbers and for a direction to the Board to permit them to appear in the ensuing High School examination.

7. Learned standing counsel has submitted that there are some institutions which are functioning in the rural area and in the interior of the districts wherein the Principal and the staff actively connive and help the students in indulging in copying in the Board's examination. For this, the Principal and the teachers charge heavy sum of money and they themselves actively participate in the use of all kinds of unfair means. These institutions acquire considerable notoriety and become well-known and unscrupulous students spend huge sum of money so that their examination centres may fall in the aforesaid institutions, and by use of unfair means, they are able to secure very good marks. It appears that the institution in question, namely, Smt. Harpyari Devi Inter College, Rohai, Hathras, had also earned such a name. The education authorities, therefore, took measures so that it may not be made the examination centre for the purpose of the Board's examination. The Joint Director of Education, Agra, wrote a letter on 7.1.1998 to the District Magistrate, Hathras, seeking his report regarding four institutions including the institution in question for making them examination centres. The District Magistrate then sent a letter to the Joint Director on 22.1.1998 that the secret enquiry done by him revealed that Sri Girish Pachauri, Principal of the institution, takes huge sum of money from the students to enable them to adopt all kinds of unfair means and he somehow so manages that the students of coaching schools of even far off places like Delhi and Ghaziabad also appear in the Board's examination from his institution. It was also mentioned in the letter that the assets possessed by Sri Girish Pachauri were grossly disproportionate to his known source of income and he was one of the biggest "copying mafias" of the district. A copy of the letter of the District Magistrate, Hathras, has been filed as Annexure-CA9 to the counter-affidavit.

27. In the second counter-affidavit filed by Sri Girish Pachauri, reference has been made to several writ petitions which were filed when the examination committee of the Board recommended that Smt. Harpyari Devi Inter College, Rohai, Hathras, may not be made an examination centre for the Board's High School and Intermediate examination in the year 1999 and 2001. Some contempt petition was also filed on the allegation that the Secretary of the Board had not passed any order on the representation. Filing of repeated writ petitions in the High Court and contempt petition and running to Allahabad from Hathras involves a lot of expenditure. Holding and conducting an examination is not a very pleasant job. It requires a lot of effort and extra work. We fail to understand why there should be any keenness or desire that the institution in question must necessarily be made an examination centre for the Board's examination. There is considerable material on record to suggest that the Principal of the college, Girish Pachauri charges huge sum of money from some unscrupulous students for actively helping them in indulging in unfair means in the Board's examination. In the reply given by the Education Minister of the U. P. Government in the House on 9.3.1999 (copy of which has been filed as Annexure-5 to the second counter-affidavit of Girish Pachauri himself), it is mentioned that Girish Pachauri charges about Rs. 25,000 from each student and after manipulating that their examination centre falls in his institution, large-scale unfair means are adopted wherein the students are able to secure very high marks. We do not want to express any opinion in this regard in the present writ petition. However, the fact remains that a very responsible officer of the State Government of the level of the Regional Secretary of the Board and also the D.I.O.S., Hathras, who have no personal animosity of any kind with Girish Pachauri, have after careful enquiry, lodged three F.I.Rs. against him that he did not deposit examination fee of the students realised by him in the last several years. In the present case also, 175 students, who are the writ petitioners, and who admittedly deposited the examination fee with the principal in August, 2001, could not appear in the Board's examination which commenced on 18.3.2002 on account of the fact that the fee was not deposited in the Government treasury. This undoubtedly shows that the principal and also the institution are functioning in a manner which is highly detrimental to the holding of Board's examination in time and also in maintaining the purity and sanctity of the examination. If Girish Pachauri is really in possession of assets which are disproportionate to his known source of income, it will certainly be an important link to establish that he has been charging big money from the students for actively assisting them in indulging in unfair means and resorting to copying in the examination. We are, therefore, of the opinion that till Girish Pachauri, Principal of the institution, is cleared of all the allegations of having committed criminal offences, the institution, Smt. Harpyari Devi Inter College, Rohai, Hathras, should not be made examination centre for the Board's examination of High School and the Intermediate classes.

The I.G., C.B. C.I.D. of the area shall personally monitor the investigation. After investigation is completed, a report shall be submitted in the Court in accordance with law. The concerned officer of the C.B.C.I.D. shall investigate the following cases :

(i) Case Crime No. 73 of 2000 under Section 409, I.P.C., P. S. Chandpa, Hathras.

(ii) Case Crime No. 45 of 2001, under Sections 409. 467, 468 and 471, I.P.C., P. S. Chandpa, Hathras.

(iii) Case Crime No. 23 of 2000 under Section 409, I.P.C., P. S. Chandpa, Hathras.