- (1.)This writ petition has been filed challenging the Punjab School Education Board (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 (hereinafter referred to as the Ordinance 2013) (Annexure-P-32) being ultra vires the Constitution as Article 19(1)(g) stands violated by insertion of sub-section (1-A) after sub-section (1) in Section 17 in the Punjab School Education Board Act, 1969 (hereinafter referred to as the 1969 Act). It is the contention of learned senior counsel for the petitioners that petitioner No. 1-Council of Secondary Education (hereinafter referred to as the Council) is a Society registered on 2.5.2008 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as the 1860 Act). The said Council was formed with the objective to function as an autonomous, independent and Non-Governmental Board for conduct of public examination upto Senior Secondary School Education providing an alternative to choose from either Government Aided Boards or a Non Government Independent Autonomous Body. Endeavour is to provide education to all children especially those in the rural and remote areas at least upto the secondary level. It is a private initiative on the part of the Council for establishment of a Non-Governmental Board for conducting common examination for students of Secondary and Senior Secondary in schools affiliated and likely to be affiliated with it.
(2.)For the said purpose, it has devised a detailed curriculum in consultation with experienced professionals and educationists catering to the needs of current trend of examination as also taking care of future developments in the field of education by providing education in subjects which are not even taken note of by the Government Boards and institutions. The massive task of educating the masses cannot be left to one individual or organization alone and it is with this purpose, the Council stands established. Petitioner-Council in this endeavor has been able to grant affiliation to 100 schools in Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, U.P., Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and M.P. It has conducted examinations for the academic session 2008-09 onwards and the number of students have increased gradually. Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education, Ajmer, Rajasthan has accorded recognition to the petitioner-Council and the examinations passed by the students from the schools affiliated from the petitioner-Council are treated equivalent to that of the Rajasthan Board. Petitioner has obtained recognition from International Accreditation Organization which agency is working to enhance the standard of education around the world.
(3.)His submission is that the regulation of education standard throughout the nation is primarily controlled by two premier institutions i.e. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) which operate at the national level. These two institutions are Societies incorporated under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 as the petitioner-Council and are recognized by various State Governments as equivalent to their State Education Boards which are creation of the statute. The functions performed by the petitioner-Council are the same as that of these two institutions.