Punjab & Haryana HC Penalizes School ₹30,000 for Grave Exam Error, Jeopardizing Student’s Future

A school recently faced a penalty of ₹30,000 imposed by the Punjab & Haryana High Court for erroneously assigning zero marks to a Class X student in her Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams.

The Punjab & Haryana High Court delivered this judgement in the matter of Riya v. State

A bench of Justice Vikas Bahl emphasized, “It would be relevant to note that on account of the mistake made by the school not only the petitioner has suffered but even the respondent-Board had to suffer litigation expenses in the present case without there being any fault on their account.”

Due to the school’s negligence, marks of two students with identical names were mistakenly swapped. Consequently, the student who received zero marks in the 2021 examination was unable to participate in the Class XII board exams.

The affected student subsequently approached the Court seeking correction of her examination results and the issuance of a revised marks certificate.

It was argued that when the petitioner sought the CBSE’s intervention to rectify the marks, she was informed that the school had failed to submit the revised marks on the online portal within the designated timeframe.

It was also asserted that despite repeated requests, the school insisted that the application had been forwarded to the Board but took no further action.

The Court noted the school’s casual approach, evident from the fact that it chose not to cooperate despite being served a notice. Consequently, the allegations in the petition were left unaddressed by the school.

After reviewing the submissions, the Court observed,

“The petitioner is stated to have cleared her 11th class examination and could not give 12th class examination on account of the mistake of the school and in case the necessary directions are not passed in favour of the petitioner, then her future would be jeopardized.”

The single bench imposed a penalty of ₹30,000 on the school for its negligence, directing the costs to be paid to the CBSE for being dragged into unnecessary litigation.

The Court also overturned CBSE’s decision to dismiss the petitioner’s request for the rectification of her marks and instructed the Board to announce a new result.