Alok Sharma, J. - (1.) THE petitioner is aggrieved of being marked 41 out of 100 in the subject of English in the repeat examination of Class XII in the year 2014 conducted by the Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan, Ajmer (hereinafter 'the Board').
(2.) COUNSEL for the petitioner submits that a perusal of the photo copy of the petitioner's answer -sheet in the said examination obtained under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (hereinafter 'the Act of 2005') indicates that the petitioner was awarded only 22 marks out of 80 when in -fact it transpires from the answer -sheet that the petitioner was earlier awarded a higher mark than the one indicated in the title page of the answer -sheet. Attention of the Court has been drawn to the scoring out of the marks first awarded to the petitioner in respect to various questions answered by him and subsequent re -award of marks therein aggregating to 22 marks out of 80. (Remainder 20 marks being for internal assessment). It has been submitted that the arbitrariness of the Board's evaluation be rectified by resort to the all encompassing equitable power of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to do justice and it be directed that the marks first awarded to the petitioner while evaluation his answers in the English question paper of the repeat Class XII Examination 2014 be awarded to him to the exclusion of marks awarded on reconsideration by the examiner. Mr. Vinod Kumar Gupta counsel appearing for the Board has submitted that the challenge in the petition and the prayer made is unprecedented. It is submitted that no students can demand that a certain mark be awarded to him in any examination conducted by the Board or any other examining authority more so in respect of a paper not objective in nature but narrative. It has been submitted that be as it may, an inquiry with regard to the scoring out of the marks in the petitioner's answer -sheet in the subject of English and thereafter re -marking the petitioner's answer -sheet was carried out by the Board with the concerned examiner. Therefrom it transpired that the examiner having marked all questions in the first instance, on second thoughts, with reference to the standards of evaluation circulated by the Board realized that the petitioner's answer -sheet had been marked rather differently and therefore needed to be marked afresh with reference to the standards of the Board in uniformity with the standards applied to answers of other candidates examined. Resultantly the marks earlier awarded were scored out and the answers considered again and marked afresh. It has been submitted that while examining the copy of any student complete secrecy is maintained and the examiner has no idea whatsoever as to the students whose copies are being evaluated. It has been submitted that in these circumstances no malice can be attributed to either to the examiner who examined the petitioner's answer -sheet in English in the repeated examination of Class XII commenced 2014 or the Board. It has been further submitted that the scoring out of the marks earlier granted and reconsideration does not come within the meaning of re -evaluation (which is done by another examiner) and consequently the mark finally awarded to the petitioner in the subject of English in the repeated examination of Class IX written by him in the year 2014 can not supply a cause of action in laying this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
(3.) HEARD the counsel for the parties and perused the petition and the reply thereto.;