The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea filed by a student of Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) which sought for a re-test/re-examination for students who had failed in Class 9th and 11th in ICSE schools. A Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari heard the matter and refused to entertain the same as the same would entail contravening the policy...
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea filed by a student of Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) which sought for a re-test/re-examination for students who had failed in Class 9th and 11th in ICSE schools.
A Bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari heard the matter and refused to entertain the same as the same would entail contravening the policy of ICSE to not promote students from Class 11th to 12th on the basis of a re-test/re-examination.
The Court, agreeing with the contentions of ICSE, noted that "in view of the policy articulated in Chapter II of its Regulations – that no re-examination or awarding of grace marks is permissible for promotions from Class XI to Class XII, the question of issuing directions to the contrary does not arise".
It was further observed that though the Petitioner requested for directions to be given to ICSE to follow the course adopted by the Central Board of Secondary Education, it was not open to the Court to issue a writ to direct ICSE to follow the norms specified by some other Board.
"The Respondent-Board is free and independent to adopt its own modalities for ensuring academic standards", observed the Court.
The Court concluded the Order by noting that if any directions were issued in the instant case, it may lead to more claims being raised by similarly situated students and this might adversely impact the academic year which had already commenced from June, 2020.
Filed by Advocate-on-Record Alakh Alok Srivastava, the plea sought for a relief on the baiss of a notification issued on May 13, 2020 by CBSE which granted a one-time relief to those students who had failed in Class 9th and Class 11th, to appear in a school-based re-test, in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In light of the notification, the plea sought for similar concessions to be made on behalf of ICSE and prayed to the Court to issue directions to ICSE to adopt, formulate and implement similar norms as prescribed by CBSE in its notifications and to grant him an opportunity to re-take the examinations.
However, the Court was not inclined to entertain the plea and dismissed the same.
Advocate-on-Record Sandeep Devashish Das appeared on behalf of ICSE.