Sangita Chakraborty vs State Of Tripura And Ors

Heard learned counsel for the parties for final disposal of the petition.

Petitioner has challenged the decision of the respondents in declaring her to have failed in Tripura Teachers‟ Eligibility Test (hereinafter to be referred to as T-TET). She has prayed that she may be declared "pass" at the said examination which was held on 30.12.2018.

Brief facts are as under:

Petitioner holds a degree of Bachelor in Arts from Kamalpur Government Degree College which she passed in the year 2006. Thereafter she had also completed a Diploma Course of 2(two) years in Elementary Degree from Kamalpur. From an affidavit dated 20.01.2020 filed by Sri Dinesh Chandra Sarkar, Deputy Secretary to the Government of Tripura, School Education Department, one gathers that for a person to be eligible for appointment as a teacher in Elementary School he/she must pass T-TET conducted in two parts in two separate papers. Paper-I would be for the teachers for classes I to V. Paper-II would be for the teachers for classes VI to VIII. Total marks in each paper would be 150. A candidate must secure a minimum 60% marks to pass. There would be a relaxation of 5% marks for SC/ST/Physically Handicapped candidates. The certificate of pass would have a validity of 7(seven) years. The respondents decided to hold the T-TET on 30.12.2018.

The petitioner appeared in such examination in the subject of Social Studies held on 30.12.2018. The respondents published a tentative result sheet on 01.01.2019 seeking feedback from the candidates. Final result was published on 14.01.2019. The petitioner was shown to have secured 88 out of 150 marks and was, therefore, declared unsuccessful. Case of the petitioner is that the authorities had wrongly treated petitioner‟s answers to six of these questions as incorrect answers. The petitioner would point out that all 150 questions were Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ, for short). Petitioner has dispute with her answers being declared incorrect in relation to questions No.41, 69, 79, 82, 83 and 101. For convenience the respective questions with multiple choices indicated in the question paper, the answers given by the petitioner to these questions and the correct answers according to the respondents are provided in a tabular form below:

Sl. No.

Question

Answer given by the petitioner

Answer in the final Result Sheet (Page 19)

1.

Question No.101: The largest coal mine of India is-

A. Jharia Mines, B. Gevra Mines, C. Singareni Mines, D. None of the above.

A. Jharia Mines

B. Gevra Mines

2.

Question No.79: ‟Hawa' and „Lal‟, both the words are-

A. Arabi, B. Deshi, C. Tatsham, D. None of the above.

C. Tatsham

A. Arabi

3.

Question No.41: We walked_____the edge of the desert-

A. Upto, B. Until, C. As far as, D. None of the above.

A. Upto

C. As far as

4.

Question No.69: When was Rabindranath Tagore‟s „Gitanjali‟ Novel published-

A. 1913, B. 1912, C. 1910, D. None of the above.

B. 1912

C. 1910

5.

Question No.82: The students like those teachers, who are-

A. Who runs as per student‟s dictation, B. Who allows leave now and then, C. Who can tell good stories, D. None of the above.

C. Who can tell good stories

D. None of the above

6.

Question No.83: The language to be learnt properly for which the important thing is that-

A. Right voice pronunciation, B. Hearing attentively, C. Speaking, D. None of the above.

B. Hearing attentively

A. Right voice pronunciation

Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petitioner had given the correct answers to all these questions. The respondents wrongly declared these answers as incorrect. He submitted that some of the answers of the petitioner are supported by authentic publications approved by the State authorities. The petitioner was, therefore, wrongly declared to have failed in the said examination. He submitted that the decision of the examining body is open to judicial review, even if it may be very limited. In this context, he relied on the decision of Supreme Court in case of Kanpur University and others vrs. Samir Gupta and others, reported in (1983) 4 SCC 309 and of a learned Single Judge of Calcutta High Court in case of Naba Gopal Mandal vrs. State of West Bengal and others decided on 13.02.2019 in WP(C) No. 3476(W) of 2018.

On the other hand, learned Addl. Government Advocate opposed the petition contending that the examination was conducted by the Teachers‟ Recruitment Board, Tripura (hereinafter to be referred to as TRBT). The decisions of the experts body in the field of education and examination would not be open to challenge in a writ petition. He relied on the following decisions of Supreme Court in this respect:

(i) Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission, through its Chairman and another vrs. Rahul Singh and another, reported in (2018) 7 SCC 254; and

(ii) Ran Vijay Singh and others vrs. State of Uttar Pradesh and others, reported in (2018) 2 SCC 357.

First, one may examine the powers of a writ Court while entertaining a challenge to the decision of an expert body, in particular in the field of education. Undoubtedly, the scope of judicial review would be extremely narrow. The Court does not profess to possess knowledge in specialized fields. Particularly when the conduct of the examination and assessment of the answers of the candidates is at the hands of expert bodies such as the School Board or the University, the role of a Court in dissecting the correctness or otherwise of the decision of such an expert body would be extremely limited. Unless and until a glaring error, an omission or an incorrection which emerges ex facie from the record is pointed out, the Court would undoubtedly hold a healthy regard for the opinion of such expert body and would always hesitate in overruling the decision of such a body. In a detailed decision the Supreme Court in case of Ran Vijay Singh and others (supra) has summarized the principles applicable in such situations. It is observed inter alia that the Court should not re-evaluate or scrutinize the answer sheets of a candidate. The Court should presume the correctness of the key answers and proceed on that assumption. In the event of doubt, the benefit should go to the examination authority. Sympathy or compassion would have no role to play in such process. Likewise, in case of Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission, through its Chairman and another vrs. Rahul Singh and another (supra), the Supreme Court advocated a strong need for judicial restraint in such matters of examining the correctness of key answers.

Nevertheless there are bound to be some cases, howsoever few and far between they may be, where an expert body can also make an error. Situations are not unknown where examining bodies such as the recruiting agencies, such Public Service Commissions and even School Boards concede to errors in the questions or sometimes the keys to the answers. The scope of judicial review in such cases is not totally shut out.

In case of Kanpur University and others vrs. Samir Gupta and others (supra), the Supreme Court had observed that if the paper-setter has committed an error while indicating the correct answer to a question set by him, the students who have given the correct answer cannot be failed for the reason that though the answer is correct it is not in conformity to the answer supplied by the paper-setter to the University.

With this background, we may refer to the questions disputed by the petitioner. Insofar as questions at Sl. Nos.2, 3 and 4 of the above table (Questions No.79, 41 and 69 respectively in the examination paper) are concerned, the same require no interference. The presumption of correctness of the questions and the correct answer key has not been dislodged. Merely because the petitioner has raised some doubt about the question or the correct answer, would not be sufficient to disturb the final decision of the examining body.

However, the questions at Sl. Nos.1, 5 and 6 (Questions No.101, 82 and 83 respectively in the question paper) stand on a different footing. I may first deal with questions at Sl. Nos.5 and 6.

For convenience one may reproduce the question with the multiple choices indicated in the examination paper:

Question No.82: The students like those teachers, who are-

A. Who runs as per student‟s dictation,

B. Who allows leave now and then,

C. Who can tell good stories,

D. None of the above.

If one reads the question, it immediately becomes clear that the same is not possible of any comprehension. Even the question itself "The students like those teachers, who are-" makes no meaning in ordinary grammatical English language. The multiple choices offered by the examiner only compounds this confusion. By merely stating that the correct answer in such a question would be none of the above, the inherent ambiguity and fallacy of the question itself would not disappear. Multiple choice questions or MCQ as is popularly referred to are questions where one or several choices indicated, only one is correct. Such method of testing knowledge of the examinee with precision also requires great precision at the hands of examiner. Any ambiguity, imperfection in the question or possibility of more answers than one being correct would destroy the validity of the question itself. This question must therefore be discarded.

Question at Sl. No.6 with multiple choices presented was as under:

Question No.83: The language to be learnt properly for which the important thing is that-

A. Right voice pronunciation,

B. Hearing attentively,

C. Speaking,

D. None of the above.

Even this question in my opinion like in case of the previous one, simply makes no sense and defies all logic. What does "The language to be learnt properly for which the important thing is that-" mean is difficult to comprehend. Even if that question is accepted as it is, any of the choices presented by the examiner would fit the answer. All in all both the questions are simply beyond any logical comprehension. This is not to suggest that the answers given by the petitioner to such questions were correct or should be treated as correct. This is only to suggest that both the questions must be discarded for evaluation of the petitioner‟s answers.

This brings us to the question at Sl. No.1 (No.101 in question paper). The question and the multiple choices presented in the question paper are as under:

Question No.101: The largest coal mine of India is-

A. Jharia Mines,

B. Gevra Mines,

C. Singareni Mines,

D. None of the above.

The petitioner had given answer (A) as a correct choice meaning Jharia Mines. According to the petitioner this is the largest coal mine in India. The respondents had given answer (B) as a correct answer i.e. Gevra Mines, which according to them is the largest. In this context, learned counsel for the petitioner pointed out that in several Government approved books it is stated that the largest coal mine in the country is Jharia Mines. My attention was drawn to the questions on Social Studies (Geography and Economics) for Class-X published by Parul Prakashani Pvt. Ltd. which claimed the basis of its information to Tripura Government Circular dated 10.11.2016, which contained following information:

"Jharkhand: it is the first place which occupies in Coal Drilling (8035356.20 million metric ton). Here the important Coal mines are Jharia, Chandrapura, Bokaro, Ramgar, North & South Kaoapura, Girdi, Jayanti, Daltanganj, Panchwara, etc. The Jharia Coal mine of Damodar Valley is the largest Coal mine of India. Here from the coal mines, the high category bitumen coal is available."

Likewise in Modern Social Studies (Geography and Economics) for Class-X published by Goodluck Publishers, following information is provided:

"Jharkhand: In drilling of coal this State has acquired the first place. The main coal mines of the State are Jharia (largest in India), Bokaro, Chandrapura, Karanpura, Ramgar, Hajaribhag, Dhanbad, Rajmahal, Daltanganj etc."

In "Geography Tutor" for Class-X published by Goodluck Publishers, following information is provided:

"51. Largest Coal Mine in India-

(i) Talchere (ii) Jamuria

(iii) Jharia (iv) Korbaye

Answer:- (iii) Jharia."

In "Social Science Teacher" for Class-VIII published by Chaya Prakashani which is approved by Tripura Board of Secondary Education, following information is provided:

"30. Largest Coal Mine in India-

A. Jharia B. Raniganj

C. Bokaro D. Korbaye

Answer:- Jharia (30-A)"

Thus multiple sources in public domain clearly indicate that Jharia mines are the largest coal mines in India. This information is provided in questions and answers compiled by various publishers specifically for the purpose of preparation in such and similar examinations. Some of these publications are either approved by the School Board of the State or trace their source of information to Government of Tripura circulars. The respondents cannot lightly discard the information so consistently provided in various such sources and take the shelter of such publications being made by private publishers. Had an isolated publisher and that too unsupported by any Government source, provided such information, it was open for the respondents to ignore the same and insist that the petitioner‟s answer was wrong. However, in the present case the answer is consistently published in several publications. Some of them tracing their source to Government authenticated sources. The petitioner cannot be blamed for giving an answer so widely publicized. Petitioner must, therefore, get 1(one) mark for attempting the said question correctly.

Sum total of this discussion would be that the performance of the petitioner shall have to be judged on the basis of the total of 148 marks [discarding the questions No.82 and 83 of the original question paper] and awarding 1(one) mark where 0(zero) was awarded in question No.101. The petitioner would thus get 89 out of the total of 148 marks which would work out to more than 60% which is the minimum pass marks. The respondents shall modify the result of the petitioner and issue necessary certificate of pass which shall be done within a period of one month from today.

Petition is disposed of accordingly.

Pending application(s), if any, also stands disposed of.