AUGUSTINE ABRAHAM v. UNION OF INDIA

BY ADVS. SRI.NIRMAL S SRI.S.MANU, DEPUTY SOLICITOR GENERAL OF INDIA THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 11.01.2024, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: W.P.(C)No.38025 of 2023 :3: J U D G M E N T Dated this the 11th day of January, 2024 The petitioner is before this Court seeking to quash Ext.P11 and to direct the respondents 3 and 4 to change / correct the date of birth of the petitioner in Ext.P1 as 10.08.1987 instead of

10.08.1988 in accordance with Exts.P2 to P6 as expeditiously as possible.

2. The petitioner states that in Ext.P2 Birth Certificate, the petitioner's date of birth is correctly shown as 10.08.1987. Ext.P3 Aadhaar Card also discloses the date of birth as

10.08.1987. Ext.P4 is a copy of the Passport of the petitioner, wherein also, the date of birth is recorded as 10.08.1987. Ext.P5 is an extract of Parish Baptism Register. Ext.P5 would also show that the date of birth of the petitioner is 10.08.1987. In Ext.P6 W.P.(C)No.38025 of 2023 :4: PAN Card also, the date of birth is correctly recorded as

10.08.1987.

3. Due to some mistake and omission, the date of birth of the petitioner was erroneously recorded as 10.08.1988 in the CBSE mark statement, a copy of which is produced as Ext.P1. The petitioner submitted application for correction of records through the 6th respondent-School. The 6th respondent forwarded the application to the 5th respondent. The 5th respondent placed the application before the 4th respondent and the 4th respondent has rejected the application as Ext.P11 order.

4. Counsel for the petitioner submits that the rejection as contained in Ext.P11 due to the reason that as per the Amended Examination Bye-laws, Rule 69.2 provides that no change in the date of birth once recorded in the Board's record shall be made. The 4th respondent also submitted that the School records submitted does not match with the corrections sought. W.P.(C)No.38025 of 2023 :5:

5. Standing Counsel entered appearance on behalf of respondents 2 to 5 and resisted the writ petition. On behalf of respondents 2 to 5, it is submitted that the application of the petitioner was processed and it was found that the desired correction of date of birth is not in consonance with the relevant documents of School records. Accordingly, taking into consideration Rule 69.2 of the Examination Bye-laws, the request of correction of date of birth has not been considered by the competent authority.

6. I have heard the learned Counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel representing the respondents.

7. Standing Counsel representing respondents 2 to 5 submitted that the correction of educational records issued by the CBSE is now governed by a Scheme framed by the Hon'ble Apex Court, contained in Jigya Yadav v. Central Board of Secondary Education [2021 (3) KLT 711 (SC)] until the bye- W.P.(C)No.38025 of 2023 :6: laws of the CBSE are amended. The respondents are bound to follow the Scheme provided by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Jigya Yadav's case (supra).

8. It is not disputed that the procedure / norms relating to the correction of date of birth and name of candidates and parents are governed by the judgment of the Hon'ble Apex Court in Jigya Yadav v. Central Board of Secondary Education (supra) till the amended bye-laws are notified by the CBSE. Therefore, the application for correction submitted by the petitioner will have to be considered in the light of the judgment of the Apex Court. Taking into consideration the facts of the case, the writ petition is disposed of directing the 6th respondent to effect necessary changes in the School records in tune with Exts.P2 to P6 and forward the same to the 4th respondent, who is the competent authority for correction of date of birth in CBSE W.P.(C)No.38025 of 2023 :7: records in so far as the petitioner is concerned. There will be a further direction to the 4th respondent that as and when the documents are received from the 6th respondent, the 4th respondent shall consider and effect necessary changes in the Ext.P1 Certificate in accordance with the Rules and Schemes contained in Jigya Yadav's case (supra) within a period of six weeks. JUDGE N. NAGARESH Sd/- W.P.(C)No.38025 of 2023 :8: APPENDIX OF WP(C) 38025/2023 PETITIONER EXHIBITS ExhibitP1 ExhibitP2 ExhibitP3 ExhibitP4 ExhibitP5 ExhibitP6 ExhibitP7 ExhibitP8 ExhibitP9 ExhibitP10 A TRUE COPY OF THE 10TH SECONDARY SCHOOL CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE 3RD RESPONDENT DATED 25/05/2004 WITH ROLL NO. 4123250 A TRUE COPY OF THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE OF PETITIONER DATED 19/11/2022 A TRUE COPY OF THE AADHAR CARD OF THE PETITIONER A TRUE COPY OF THE PASSPORT OF THE PETITIONER A TRUE COPY OF THE BAPTISM CERTIFICATE OF THE PETITIONER DATED 01/11/2023 A TRUE COPY OF THE PAN CARD OF THE PETITIONER A TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION DATED 24/11/2022 SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE 5TH RESPONDENT A TRUE COPY OF THE COVERING LETTER DATED 06/03/2023 OF THE 6TH RESPONDENT TO 5TH RESPONDENT A TRUE COPY OF THE PRESCRIBED FORMAT FOR CORRECTION IN DATE BIRTH SUBMITTED BY THE 6TH RESPONDENT TO 5TH RESPONDENT A TRUE COPY OF THE REPRESENTATION SUBMITTED BY THE PETITIONER BEFORE THE SECTION OFFICER (M & M SECTION) CBSE REGIONAL CHENNAI DATED 29/07/2023 W.P.(C)No.38025 of 2023 :9: ExhibitP11 ExhibitP12 A TRUE COPY OF THE LETTER ISSUED BY THE 4TH RESPONDENT TO 6TH RESPONDENT DATED 13/09/2023 A TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF NOTIFICATION AMENDMENT NO:CBSE/COORD/AS(C)/2017 DATED 01/02/2018