GHAZANFAR RASHID Vs. BOARD H S AND I EDN U P FB"

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A Division Bench of this Court, expressing doubt about the correctness of the principles laid down by another Bench of this Court in Prabhat Kumar v. Board of High School and Intermediate Education (1971 All LJ 1391) referred the writ petition for decision to a larger Bench. Since the entire case has been referred to this Bench, it is essential to state necessary facts giving rise to this petition.

(2.) THE petitioner appeared at the Intermediate Examination of 1973 held by the Board of High School and Intermediate Education (hereinafter referred to as the Board) from the Government Inter College, Banda. A complaint was received by the Board that unfair means was used by the examinees at large scales at the said centre in answering the question papers of Intermediate Examination of 1973. THE Board appointed a Screening Committee of experts in various subjects to ascertain the correctness of the allegations. THE Screening Committee on scrutiny of the answer books found that examinees who appeared from that centre, including the petitioner, had used unfair means. THE Examinations Committee appointed a spot enquiry committee to enquire into the matter in detail and it approved a charge sheet in the form of a questionnaire for service of the same on the erring examinees. THE spot enquiry committee served the charge sheet on the petitioner and obtained his explanation. THE charge sheet alleged that in answering question No. 1 of Chemistry Second paper, the petitioner had used unfair means and in support of the charge it was alleged that the petitioner had arrived at the correct answer without going through the requisite working either in rough or in the answer itself which could not be possible, therefore the petitioner had answered the question with the aid of some outside agency. THE petitioner denied the charge and asserted that arithmetical steps involved in the question were so simple that he solved the same orally and there was no necessity of doing any rough work. He further denied to have obtained any extraneous help directly or indirectly through any source. THE Examination Committee did not find the petitioner's explanation satisfactory, it held the petitioner guilty of having used unfair means and it thereupon cancelled the petitioner's Intermediate Examination of 1973. Aggrieved, the petitioner filed this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution challenging the aforesaid order of the Board.

(3.) QUESTION No. 1 of Chemistry, II paper, was as follows : "1. An organic compound containing carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen on analysis gave C = 40.57%, H = 8.53%, N = 23.65%; when treated with bromine and caustic potash, it gave a colourless gas like ammonia which produced white fumes with hydrochloric acid gas. This gas when treated with nitrous acid gave an alcohol and nitrogen. The molecular weight of the substance was found to be 59. Assign a structural formula to this compound."