Court orders HP Board to include student in top-10 merit list, imposes Rs 25,000 cost
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Shimla, Aug 1,
In a strongly worded order, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel of the Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education to include 15-year-old Yashaswini Aggarwal in the top ten merit list of the March 2024 Class 10 board examination. The Court further imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the Board, observing that the petitioner was subjected to “agony due to gross negligence” of the education authorities.
Aggarwal had initially been awarded 686 marks out of 700. Following a re-evaluation, her score increased to 693. Despite the upward revision making her eligible for inclusion in the top ten merit list, the Board denied her the merit certificate on grounds that the corrected marks were received after the 30 August 2024 cut-off date.
Justice Goel dismissed the Board’s reasoning, stating, “The petitioner cannot be denied the merit certificate arbitrarily just on the grounds as are propagated by the respondent-Board in its reply. The meritorious students do not deserve such treatment.”
The Court rejected the Board’s attempt to shift blame to the school authorities for not submitting the updated documents in time. It held, “As it is the respondent-Board that conducts the examination and declares the result, obviously onus is upon it to scrutinize as to who are the ten top most meritorious candidates… This onus cannot be shifted by the Board to other respondents like the Head Master or the Head Mistress of the School.”
Calling the denial of recognition to a high-performing student a failure of the system, Justice Goel observed, “Rather than rewarding her excellence, the respondent-Board has forced her to knock the doors of justice which is not appreciated.”
The Court further ordered that all benefits accruing to the petitioner, including scholarships, be granted, but clarified that existing beneficiaries in the top ten list would not be disturbed. “For the acts of omission and commission of the respondents, she cannot be made to suffer,” the judge stated in the concluding order.
The Board has been directed to pay Rs 25,000 to the petitioner within four weeks.
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