THE ALLAHABAD High Court has asked the UP Board of Secondary Education to institute an appropriate inquiry into miscalculation of a candidate’s marks.
Taking a serious note of the matter, Justice SN Srivastava allowed a petition filed by Mrityunjay Singh of Hamirpur district. The court directed the UP Board to show no leniency in such matters wherein the future of a student is at stake.
If the official assigned the duty of feeding marks into the computer was found at fault, the Board may take appropriate action against him, the court said.
The judge also said, “...I am of the view that conduct of the official, which is fraught with the consequence of playing with the future and career of gullible students, must be censured.”
The court ordered that Rs 5,000 be paid to the petitioner by the Board for causing harassment. The court said that it would be open to the Board to recover the amount from the salary of the official at fault.
The court ordered that the petition be listed after three months with a compliance report. The petitioner had applied for scrutiny. The Board informed the petitioner that no difference of marks was found upon rechecking. However, when the court ordered rechecking, it was found that the petitioner had got 18 more marks.
The court observed, “It is a serious matter that the officials of the Board treated the entire matter lightly, while the fact remains that upon totaling of marks by the court, in all there was a difference of 18 marks in aggregate.
{{/usCountry}}The court observed, “It is a serious matter that the officials of the Board treated the entire matter lightly, while the fact remains that upon totaling of marks by the court, in all there was a difference of 18 marks in aggregate.
{{/usCountry}}The counsel tried to whittle down the mistake, saying it was attributable to error of computer and no official can be blamed for the same. This submission does not cut any ice.” The court directed the Board to issue a corrected marksheet within two weeks.