Delhi High Court fines parents Rs 2 lakh, orders CBSE to fix student’s birth record

“Furthermore, a wrong committed by the parents of the petitioner cannot be attributed to the petitioner, who was aged just about four years at the time of his admission and is still a minor,” the July 17 order read. 

The high court was hearing the plea of a student of the twelfth class, represented by his guardian, seeking directions to St Columba’s School to rectify its records to reflect the student’s correct date of birth as April 23, 2010.

A parent’s tactic to get admission

The guardian of the child claimed that his son was admitted to the school in April 2014. He added that at the time of the petitioner’s admission to kindergarten (KG), due to an alleged inadvertent error by the parents, his date of birth was recorded in the school records as March 23, 2010, instead of April 23, 2010.

Justice Vikas Mahajan imposed exemplary costs of Rs 2 lakh on the parents for resorting to unethical means.

It was added that the correct date of birth, April 23, 2010, has been consistently reflected in all other public records of the student. These include the birth certificate issued on April 5, 2011, his Aadhaar card, passport, and the records of the hospital where he was born.

The guardian further claimed that the list received by the school from the CBSE, which contains the names of students registered with the CBSE based on the data furnished by the school for the ninth class, also recorded the petitioner’s correct date of birth and was signed by the petitioner’s parents.

Later, the guardian claimed to have learnt that the school, while submitting the list of candidates to the CBSE before the issuance of the tenth class board examination admit cards for the academic session 2025-2026, had incorrectly mentioned the petitioner’s date of birth as March 23, 2010.

Subsequently, the petitioner’s father submitted an application to the regional officer of the CBSE, marking a copy to the school principal, requesting correction of the petitioner’s date of birth. However, despite this request, the guardian claimed that no steps were taken either by the school or by the CBSE to carry out the necessary correction in their records.

‘Parents’ can’t go scot-free’

The high court concluded that no fault could be found with the child, but held that his parents could not be allowed to go “scot-free” as they appeared to have deliberately furnished incorrect information and a document regarding his date of birth, thereby resorting to unethical means.

The court pointed out that after nearly a decade of continuous education in the school, during which the student had already passed tenth and eleventh classes and was studying in class twelve, his initial admission to KG could not be declared void ab initio (completely invalid).

“Furthermore, a wrong committed by the parents of the petitioner cannot be attributed to the petitioner, who was aged just about four years at the time of his admission and is still a minor,” the court added. 

The high court noted that the relevant bye-laws of the CBSE show that the CBSE can correct the date of birth or other details in the certificate issued by it if the error is typographical in nature, to make it consistent with the school records. 

It was further clarified, “The discretion of the court to order correction of the date of birth is not confined to making the CBSE records consistent with the school records.”

The high court highlighted that the date of birth is an essential requirement for securing admission into colleges, both within India and abroad, which is determined based on the date reflected in the tenth-class certificate issued by the CBSE. 

“If there is any inconsistency in the date of birth of the petitioner as reflected in the Class X certificate vis-a-vis other statutory and public documents, it will result in serious impediments, including, but not limited to, rejection or unnecessary delays in the admission process of the petitioner, besides raising doubt as to his identity,” the court added.

Arguments 

Appearing for the petitioner, advocate Sameer Rohatgi submitted that, following this circular issued by the Directorate of Education, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) regarding rectification in date of birth in 2015, the petitioner’s parents took necessary steps in the academic year 2017-2018 to rectify the date of birth of the petitioner inadvertently recorded in the records of the school. 

He argued that despite the aforesaid rectification of records, the school, while filling out the forms for its students, who are scheduled to appear for the tenth class CBSE board examination, before the issuance of its admit cards for the academic session 2025-2026, had incorrectly mentioned the petitioner’s date of birth as March 23, 2010, instead of April 23, 2010.

Representing the school, one of the counsels, advocate Sachin Singh Dalal, submitted that the petitioner was granted admission in the school solely based on the declared date of birth, i.e., March 23, 2010, as mentioned in the admission form, which was duly signed by both the parents of the petitioner. 

It was further submitted that this was possibly done by the parents of the petitioner to make the child eligible for admission in the academic session 2014-2015, for which eligibility was strictly restricted to children born between April 2009 and March 2010.

He argued that if the petitioner’s current prayer, claiming the date of birth as March 23, 2010, is accepted, it would render the petitioner ineligible for admission to KG in the 2014-2015 academic session, thereby rendering the initial admission of the petitioner void ab initio.

On behalf of the CBSE, advocate Atul Kumar submitted that the date of birth, i.e., March 23, 2010, which the petitioner now claims to be incorrect, was in fact mentioned and filled in the admission form by the parents of the petitioner themselves, at the time of seeking admission in the school.  

He further submitted that the CBSE cannot change the date of birth of the petitioner in its records as the present case is not a case of discrepancy where the date of birth of the petitioner in the CBSE’s records does not match with the date mentioned in the school records