Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri H.N. Pandey for the respondents 2 and 3.
By the instant petition, the petitioner has prayed for quashing of the order dated 29.05.2013 passed by the Section Officer (Certificate Department) of the Central Board of Secondary Education, Regional Office by which the application of the petitioner to correct her father's name in the certificate of All India Secondary School Examination, 1997 and All India Senior School Certificate Examination, 2000, has been rejected on the ground that it was applied more than ten years after the date of declaration of result.
The case of the petitioner is that her biological father/natural father was late Abdul Haneef, who died on 04.06.1983. It is her case that Mirza Mateen Beg as a distant relative of the petitioner and on account of the said demise of her natural father, supported the family as a result, the name of Mirza Mateen Beg was entered as petitioner's father in the school records, which got reflected in the certificates issued by the Board for the examinations of the year 1997 and 2000. It is the case of the petitioner that the petitioner's mother was late Nahid Aara and that in a certificate disclosing the heirs of Smt. Nahid Aara, issued by the Up Zila Adhikari (Sadar), Bareilly, the name of Smt. Nahid Aara is shown as widow of late Abdul Haneef and the name of the petitioner (Tarannum Naseem) finds mention as an unmarried daughter of Smt. Nahid Aara. It has further been submitted that the petitioner had applied to the Court of Civil Judge (Jr. Div.), Bareilly, vide Misc. Case No. 171 of 2012, for grant of succession certificate in respect of the estate of late Smt. Nahid Aara and the said Court was pleased to grant such certificate in favour of the petitioner. It has, accordingly, been submitted that from the evidence on record it is established that the petitioner is daughter of Smt Nahid Aara, who is the widow of late Abdul Haneef, therefore, it is proved that the petitioner is the daughter of Abdul Haneef. It has further been submitted that the application for correction of the father's name in the certificate should not have been rejected on ground of limitation as that ground is available only in matters where change of date of birth is sought. In that regard reliance has been placed on a Division Bench decision of this Court in the case of Anand Singh v. U.P. Board of Secondary Education and others: 2014 (3) ADJ 443 where, on interpretation of Regulation 7 of the Regulations framed under the U.P. Intermediate Education Act, this Court came to a conclusion that there is no limitation for seeking correction of parent's name in a certificate issued by the Board of High School and Intermediate, when it is demonstrated that there is a mistake caused due to a clerical error or typographical error.
Sri H.N. Pandey, who has appeared on behalf of Central Board of Secondary Education, has submitted that the decision rendered by this Court in the case of Anand Singh (supra) would not apply to the present case, inasmuch as, in that case correction was sought to make the certificate in conformity with the school records and further that was a case where the correction was sought in respect of a certificate issued by the Board of High School and Intermediate whereas in the instant case, the correction is sought in a certificate issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education, which is having its own set of Rules and Regulations and further, from the record it is clear that even in the school record the name of petitioner's father has been recorded as Mirza Mateen Beg and not as Abdul Haneef.
Along with the counter-affidavit, the examination bye-laws of the Central Board of Secondary Education have been filed. The Bye-law No. 69.1 relates to the changes and corrections in name, which reads as follows:-
69.1 Changes and Corrections in Name *i) Change in name of candidate/Father/Mother/Guardian once entered in the Board's record at any stage while studying in Class IX, X, XI, XII or thereafter, within a period of ten years from the date of issue of first such document shall be considered on written request of the Candidate (not minor)/father/mother/guardian duly forwarded by the Head of the Institution supported by the following documents:
a) Original copy of two newspapers (daily English/Hindi newspaper at National level & daily newspaper in a vernacular language circulated in the locality), in which the desired change has been published.
b) Original Affidavit duly sworn before the Judicial Magistrate, First Class / Metropolitan Magistrate/ Executive Magistrate/ Sub Divisional Magistrate.
c) Original copy of Publication in Government Gazette.
d) Payment of prescribed fee.
e) True Copy of admission form filled in by the parents duly updated as per Gazette Notification of desired change and duly attested by the Head of the concerned institution.
f) True Copy of School Leaving Certificate of the previous school submitted by the parent/candidate at the time of admission and updated as per Gazette Notification of desired change, duly attested by the Head of the concerned institution.
g) True Copy of the page of admission and withdrawal register of the school where the entry has been made in respect of candidate showing updation as per Gazette Notification of desired change, duly attested by the Head of the concerned institution.
**ii) Correction in name to the extent of correction in spelling errors, factual typographical errors in the Candidate's name / Surname, Father's name / Mother's name or Guardian's name to make it consistent with what is given in the school record or list of candidates (LOC) submitted by the school may be made.
Application for correction in name of Candidate/ Father's/ Mother's/ Guardian's name will be considered only within ten years of the date of declaration of result provided the application of the candidate is forwarded by the Head of Institution with the following attested documents:
a) True Copy of Admission form(s) filled in by the parents at the time of admission duly attested by the Head of the concerned institution
b) True Copy of the School Leaving Certificate of the previous school submitted by the parents of the candidate at the time of admission duly attested by the Head of the concerned institution.
c) True copy of the portion of the page of admission and withdrawal register of the school where the entry has been made in respect of the candidate, duly attested by the Head of the concerned institution iii. The Board may effect necessary corrections after verification of the original records of the school and on payment of the prescribed fee.
*iv. in case of change the document(s) will have a caption that may be read as "CHANGE ALLOWED IN NAME/FATHER'S NAME/MOTHER'S NAME/GUARDIAN'S NAME FROM________ TO _______ ON(DATED ________ ) AS PER REQUEST OF THE CANDIDATE AND GAZETTE NOTIFICATION NO. _________ DATED _________ ."
Relying on clause 69.1 (ii), the learned counsel for the respondents submitted that correction in the name to the extent of correction in spelling errors, factual typographical errors in the Candidate's name/Surname, Father's name/ Mother's name or Guardian's name to make it consistent with what is given in the school record or list of candidates (LOC) submitted by the school may be made, provided that application for correction in the name of candidate/Father's name/Mother's name/Guardian's name can be considered only within ten years of the date of declaration of the result provided further that the application of the candidate is forwarded by the Head of Institution with specified documents. It has been submitted that in the instant case, the application was filed in the year 2011 in respect of certificates issued in the year 1997 and 2000, therefore, it was beyond the limitation of ten years as provided in the bye-laws. It has further been submitted that since admittedly the father's name of the petitioner, even in the school record, was recorded as Mirza Mateen Beg, therefore, the correction was not permissible as correction is permissible only to make the certificate in conformity with the school record. It has thus been submitted that no fault can be found with the order impugned.
Having considered the submissions of the learned counsel for the parties, this court is of the view that since the name of the petitioner's father is mentioned as Mirza Mateen Beg even in the school records, as per the own case of the petitioner, and, further, the application was filed by the petitioner after the period of limitation, the respondents were justified in rejecting the application as it was not within their scope of powers to change the name of the petitioner's father, particularly when the change as sought was not correction of any error but a complete change of name. The documents relied on by the petitioners are only pieces of evidence on the basis of which she may seek a declaration in a properly instituted suit with regards to her parentage. But, those documents cannot be used to coerce an authority, which is governed by its own set of Rules, to make a change in the father's name, particularly when there is no typographical or clerical error shown to have occurred in recording of that name. The decision relied on by the learned counsel for the petitioner rendered in the case of Anand Singh (supra) would therefore not be applicable to the facts of the instant case.
In view of the above, the writ petition is dismissed with liberty to the petitioner to institute a suit for declaration with regards to her parentage.
Order Date :- 25.7.2014 Sunil Kr Tiwari