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Judgment
The matter came up for hearing.
Mr. S. Thapa, learned counsel for the petitioners as well as Mr. K.P. Bhattacharjee, learned State counsel and Mr. R. Jha, learned counsel for
the respondent No. 6 are present.
Mr. H. Nongkhlaw, learned counsel for the petitioners is not present, however his junior, Ms. S. Rana, learned counsel is present.
On call, Principal Secretary, IAS, Education Department, Government of Meghalaya, Mr. D.P. Wahlang appeared to assist the Court.
The brief fact of the petitioner''s case in a nutshell is that:
This is an application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of writ of mandamus, certiorari and any other order
or orders, directions or writ of like nature assailing the impugned letters/Orders dated 08.06.2016 and Circulars dated 08.06.2016
respectively issued by the Respondent No. 3 therein recalling the No-Objection certificate issued earlier by the Respondents to the
Petitioner academy thereby cancelling the recognition so granted to the Board to which the Petitioner''s academy was affiliated in a
most abrupt and illegal manner thus jeopardizing the academic career of hundreds of students for no fault of theirs.
Being highly aggrieved and dissatisfied with the illegal action of the Respondents in abruptly cancelling/recalling NOC issued earlier
and thereafter issuing the impugned letter/Order dated 08.06.2016 and Circulars dated 08.06.2016 respectively issued by the
Respondent No. 3, the Humble Petitioner has approached this Hon''ble Court for redressal of their genuine grievances.
The learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the Government could have chosen to recognize Kalpataru Academy School, but as a result
of the Government not applying their minds, the careers of many students are now at stake.
On the other hand, the learned GA appearing on behalf of the State submits that the Government has taken all the measures, inspite of that, the
School authority did not take any concrete step to recognize ""Kalpataru Academy"", so here the Government has nothing to do.
Mr. R. Jha, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent No. 6/ Board of Higher Secondary School Education, Delhi submits that the
Board is genuine and the Prime Minister''s Office even made certain correspondences with the Board. In reply, Mr. K.P. Bhattacharjee, learned
State counsel submits that, the correspondences are not from the Prime Minister''s Office, but rather a correspondence between Horizon Skills
Development Pvt. Ltd, and the concerned letter does not address any issue with regards to the recognition of the Board.
After hearing the submissions advanced by the learned counsel for the parties, it appears that Kalpataru academy is affiliated with the Board of
Higher Secondary School Education, Delhi and after perusal of the Annexure-AI at Page 5 and 6 of the affidavit-in-opposition filed on behalf of
the Government dated 10.07.2017, it is clearly mentioned at Clause ''e'' that:
e. As regards, Board of Higher Secondary Education, Delhi, the same is not recognized by the Ministry of HRD and hence cent
percent fake/fraudulent.
A copy of the Annexure-AI at Page 5 and 6 of the affidavit-in-opposition filed on behalf of the Government dated 10.07.2017 is also
reproduced herein below for ready reference:
F.No.10-1/2017 Sch - 3
Government of India
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Department of School Education & Literacy
(School-3)
New Delhi, dated 4th May, 2017
To,
Sh. M. Marbaniang,
Deputy Director,
Meghalaya School of School Education,
Shillong
Email: [email protected]
Subject: Matters relating to the recognition of the Board of Higher Secondary Education, Delhi-Reg.
Sir,
I am directed to refer to your letter No. MBOSE/Shg/Adms/15/2014/2407 dated 04/05/2017 on the subject mentioned above and
to state as follows:
a. That education falls under entry 25 of the Concurrent List of 7th Schedule of the Constitution of India and hence both the Central
and State Governments have powers to set up Education Boards. The State Education Boards are set up by an Act of State
Legislature or by an Executive Order of the State Government.
b. That there are only two national level education boards namely Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and National
Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) which have been established by MHRD.
c. MHRD, in order to ensure that innocent students do not become victims of unscrupulous and illegal activities of fake/unrecognized
boards, had issued an advisory on 20.11.2008 (Annexure A1) to all Education Secretaries of the State Governments and Union
Territories for prevention of functioning of fake boards within their defined territorial jurisdiction, as stipulated in the State Education
Acts or Rules. It is thus imperative that every State and Union Territory ought to have a provision to regulate recognition of Education
Boards, conduct of public examination and issue of certificates by such Boards.
d. The State/ UTs are to function as watchdogs so that fake institutions, calling themselves examination boards and issuing certificates,
do not operate under their territorial jurisdiction and if any such fake Boards exist, they have mechanism to deal with such fake
boards by filing First Information Report (F.I.R) under relevant / appropriate provisions under Section 420, 467 and 120(B) Indian
Penal Code, 1860.
e. As regards, Board of Higher Secondary Education, Delhi, the same is not recognized by the Ministry of HRD and hence cent
percent fake/fraudulent.
Yours faithfully
Sd/-
(D.K. Goel)
Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India.
I have also perused the affidavit-in-reply by respondent No. 6 to the additional affidavit by the respondents No. 1-5, wherein he claims that the
letter is from the Office of the Prime Minister.
On perusal of the said letter mentioned above, it appears that the letter is not from the Office of the Prime Minister, but from the Horizon Skills
Development Pvt. Ltd. with a picture of the Prime Minister at the head of the letter. In my view, the aforesaid letter has no bearing or impact in this
case. In fact, the statements of Mr. R. Jha, learned counsel for the Respondent No.6, is purely misleading and completely unwarranted.
After perusal of the Annexures attached as Annexure-AI at Page 5 and 6 of the affidavit-in-opposition filed on behalf of the Government dated
10.07.2017 and after hearing the submissions advanced by the learned counsel, it is amply clear that the Board of Higher Secondary School
Education, Delhi is a fake and fraudulent Board. Hence, the Board has no authority to affiliate any School or college under its domain. Therefore, I
have come to the conclusion that the certificate issued by the ""Kalpataru Academy"" is not valid, since they have no affiliation to a recognized Board
established by the Government of India. However, one important question which continues to disturb me is that of those unprivileged poor children
and students who on good faith joined ""Kalpataru Academy"" and are unnecessarily suffering and may be frustrated.
The Principal Secretary, IAS, Education Department, Government of Meghalaya, Mr. D.P. Wahlang present before the Hon''ble Court, has
suggested that to save the career of those affected students; the Government should arrange a special examination towards the last week of
November, 2017. This examination was suggested to ensure that the affected students do not face any problems in the future; the learned counsels
present for all the parties before the Court also agreed to the suggestion. I find that the suggestion put forward by the Principal Secretary, IAS,
Education Department, Government of Meghalaya is the best solution to save the career of those affected children. Therefore, the Education
Department is hereby directed to conduct a special examination for those students who have completed their education from Kalpataru Academy.
The students who are interested to sit for the examination may apply to the MBOSE office at Shillong on or before the 15.10.2017 and the
Education Department is also directed to provide a syllabus, so that they can prepare for the exam in a proper manner. Now further, in order to
streamline the education system and to save the students from fake Boards, Schools and Colleges, the Education Department is hereby directed to
take all necessary steps to check whether private schools and colleges are recognized and the certificates issued by them will be considered for all
purposes. Those institutions which do not have proper affiliation and are not running in accordance with law need to be closed. The students who
are currently studying in any fake institution should be given admission to different recognized schools; otherwise the affected students will
unnecessarily suffer. To this extent, I leave the entire exercise and a free hand with the Education Department, Government of Meghalaya.
However, they should see that there should not be any discrimination. Lastly, the Ministry of HRD, Government of India is directed to seal and
shut down the Board of Higher Secondary School Education, Delhi and other fake and fraudulent institutions/boards throughout the country,
otherwise innocent students will continue to fall prey, as in the present case.
Before I part with this case record, I appreciate and thank the Principal Secretary, IAS, Education Department, Government of Meghalaya,
Mr. D.P. Wahlang for his assistance to the Court on this matter.
The Education Department is also directed to publish and notify about the examination which has been proposed by the Education
Department.
With this observation and direction the instant writ petition stands disposed of.
Registrar General is directed to send a copy of this judgment and order to the Secretary, Ministry of HRD, Government of India, New Delhi
and to the Principal Secretary of Education Department, Government of Meghalaya immediately.