HP High Court Imposes ₹25K Cost On School Board For Denying Merit Certificate
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has held that it is the duty of the school education board to issue a merit certificate to a candidate after their marks are increased in the revaluation process, and it cannot shift the onus onto the school authorities.
Justice Ajay Mohan Goel remarked that:“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. Rather than rewarding her excellence, the respondent- Board has forced her to knock the doors of justice which is not appreciated”.
The petitioner appeared in 10th class examination, held by the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education & Ors in March, 2024 and secured 686 marks out of 700. However, the petitioner was not satisfied with her result, and she applied for re-evaluation. On revaluation, her marks increased to 693.
Thereafter, she requested the board for a merit certificate, which was issued to the top ten students who had scored the highest marks in the matriculation examination and made them eligible for scholarship.
The Board however, denied her the certificate on the ground that the documents were not submitted on time. The board contended that delay was due to the chool authorities as they did not submit the certificate on time.
The Court remarked that it failed to understand how the board could shirk off its responsibility by shifting the entire blame on the School. It held that the responsibility of conducting the examination, declaration of result and issuing merit certificate is on the board and it cannot shift the onus.
Allowing the writ petition, the High Court held that the petitioner was a highly meritorious candidate and she should not be made to suffer. It directed the board to grant all the benefits to the petitioner, including scholarship which are granted to meritorious candidates.
Case Name: Yashaswini Aggarwal v/s Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education & Ors.
Case No.: CWP No. 4452 of 2025
Date of Decision: 30.07.2025
For the petitioner: M/s Hirdaya Ram and Suresh Singh Saini, Advocates.
For the respondents : Mr. Chander Shekhar, Advocate, for respondent No.1.Mr. Rahul Thakur, Deputy Advocate General, for respondents No.2&3- State.