Madhyamik Exams 2024 | Calcutta HC Imposes 10K Costs On School For Mistakenly Marking Student 'Absent', Leading To Her Not Receiving Admit Card

The Calcutta High Court has recently imposed costs of Rs 10,000 on a school that mistakenly marked a student absent, due to which she was not provided with an admit card for the upcoming 2023 Madhyamik class 10 examinations.

A single bench of Justice Biswajit Basu, who had directed the school's headmaster to appear in-person, held:

It appears from the record that the petitioner has already deposited the fees for the Madhyamik Pariksha, 2024 within time, it is entirely the fault of the School for which the petitioner cannot be made to suffer. The Board therefore is directed to issue Admit Card to the petitioner enabling her to take up the Madhyamik Pariksha, 2024, subject to the payment of costs of Rs. 10,000/- 

The minor petitioner, represented by her father was a class 10 student of Jyangra Adarsha Vidyalaya (H.S.) and was scheduled to take the upcoming examinations, which are to commence from tomorrow (2nd February), but had not been issued an Admit card for the exams.

The headmaster of the school, who was personally present, submitted that the student was mistakenly shown as 'absent' in the application form for enrolment for the exam, and hence the admit card had not been issued.

Counsel for the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education opposed the prayer for the issuance of an admit card on the ground that it would be difficult for the board to entertain such a prayer at this belated stage, which would disturb the set up already in place for the exam.

Upon hearing the submissions, the Court noted that the fact that the petitioner was not issued an admit card was due to no fault of her own, and she could not be made to suffer.

It therefore directed the Board to issue her an admit card to take up the 2024 exams and imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on the school, payable to the Board along with an undertaking by the headmaster.