Bihar School Examination Board vs Subhas Chandra Sinha, & Ors on 10 March, 1970
This Court
rejected the plea of breach of rules of natural
justice, as follows: (Subhas Chandra case, SCC p.
652, para 13)
6 WP No.5261 of 2016
"13. This is not a case of any particular
individual who is being charged with
adoption of unfair means but of the conduct
of all the examinees or at least a vast
majority of them at a particular centre. If it
is not a question of charging any one
individually with unfair means but to
condemn the examination as ineffective for
the purpose it was held. Must the Board give
an opportunity to all the candidates to
represent their cases? We think not. It was
not necessary for the Board to give an
opportunity to the candidates if the
examinations as a whole were being
cancelled. The Board had not charged any
one with unfair means so that he could claim
to defend himself. The examination was
vitiated by adoption of unfair means on a
mass scale. In these circumstances it would
be wrong to insist that the Board must hold
a detailed inquiry into the matter and
examine each individual case to satisfy itself
which of the candidates had not adopted
unfair means. The examination as a whole
had to go."