Best Scores From Regular and Supplementary Exams For 11th and 12th Grades To Be Considered For Higher Studies: Kerala HC

The Bench of Justice Basant Balaji observed,“in order to achieve the intention of the supplementary/improvement examination is to see that the candidates obtained higher grades, it is not logical that a person who appears for the 1st year examination alone will be entitled to the best course obtained by him and a person who has appeared for improvement examination for the 1st year and 2nd year is not entitled to the best score is discriminatory and illogical.”

During the 11th grade in 2020-2021, the petitioner appeared for the 1st year Higher Secondary Examination but didn't achieve the required D+ grade in Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. The petitioner took improvement/supplementary exams for both 11th and 12th grades. A state government notification allowed Compartmental candidates to register for subjects they didn't pass with a D+ grade, for either 1st or 2nd year papers, or both. Despite this provision, the published results didn't consider carrying forward the best grades from prior exams. This affected the petitioner's eligibility for higher studies, especially engineering through KEAM.

Advocate Dinesh Mathew J. Muricken appeared for the Petitioner and Advocate V.K. Sunil appeared for the Respondents.

The petitioner sought relief through a writ petition with several prayers, including issuing a writ of mandamus to the 3rd respondent (educational authority) for various actions such as combining the best scores from both years' examinations, issuing a mark list considering the best scores, and retaining the original mark from the 1st year examination.

The 3rd respondent's argument was that Clause 4 pertains specifically to candidates appearing for 1st year papers only, allowing the best scores from the previous 2nd year examination to be carried forward. This is not applicable to candidates like the petitioner who appeared for both 1st and 2nd year improvement examinations.

The Court acknowledged that the petitioner's counsel referred to a precedent, Sukriti and others v. Central Board of Secondary Education, in which an arbitrary clause regarding marks calculation was deemed irrational by the Supreme Court. The Court noted that while this case differed from the current one, the principle of considering better marks, especially in improvement exams, will be applied here.

The Court concluded that the intention of conducting improvement/supplementary examinations is to help students enhance their scores. Thus, the Court ordered the 3rd respondent to declare the petitioner's result by considering the best scores obtained in both regular and supplementary examinations for both 1st and 2nd year higher secondary exams.

“the petitioner, though appeared in the supplementary examinations both in the 11th and 12th grades, obtained different marks for the same subjects, the respondents ought to have taken the best marks he obtained in the regular examination as well as in the supplementary examination. Then only, the intention of conducting a supplementary/improvement examination can be brought to a logical conclusion. “

The Court allowed the writ petition. Additionally, the Court directed the issuance of a mark list reflecting these combined best scores. The Court stated that this approach aligns with the intention of improvement exams and granted relief to the petitioner.

Cause Title: Jagankumar K. v. State of Kerala & Ors.

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