SSC students challenge debarment

MUMBAI, OCT 6: The decision of the Mumbai divisional board of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education to ...

MUMBAI, OCT 6: The decision of the Mumbai divisional board of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education to debar 64 students for four terms of board exams has been challenged in the Bombay High Court by two petitioners. In their separate petitions, one in the appellate and the other in the original side of the court, the petitioners have alleged that the SSC board8217;s inquiry into the irregularities allegedly committed by the students was 8220;sham, high-handed and arbitrary with prejudice against the students.8221; The petitioners have claimed that the inquiry, 8220;which was no less than an inquisition,8221; had also violated the principles of natural justice.

The petition in the original side of the HC has been filed by advocate Raju Moray on behalf of four of the debarred students, while the other plea in the appellate side has been filed by advocate Mukesh Vashi on behalf of two of the debarred students.

Vashi8217;s petition was heard on October 4 by the division bench of Justice N JPandya and Justice Rajan Kochar. The SSC board has sought time to file an affidavit in the matter. Moray8217;s petition will be heard by the division bench of Justice M B Ghodeswhar and Justice S Radhakrishnan on Monday.

Both petitions said the SSC board8217;s order should be quashed because it had chosen to punish students who were actually victims of a racket and not unscrupulous racketeers as the board had portrayed them to be. The SSC board had further victimised the students by its order, the petitions claimed.

The petition filed by Moray also challenged the SSC board8217;s method of conducting an inquiry against the students. It asked if school children could be subject to quasi-judicial proceedings without allowing them any representation through their guardians. The documents relied upon by the board were not disclosed, and the students were not even told clearly about the specific charges against them, the petition said.

About the method of the inquiry conducted on July 17, notices for which were issuedduring the re-exams on July 9, the petition disclosed that the 234 students present for inquiry were divided into six batches of approximately 40 students, each according to their examination seat number, and were given a printed questionnaire after they were seated in the class. 8220;They were repeatedly threatened with dire consequences if they told a lie. They were allotted a time of an hour-and-a-half. An inquiry officer A R Tambe called the students in his batch, including the three petitioners Hemagini Bhatt, Placid D8217;Souza and Jai D8217;Mello, one by one, and browbeat some students into changing their answers by scoring out what they had earlier written and replacing it with what he desired them to write.8221;

The students thought they were considered 8220;regular8221; students of Swami Dayanand Saraswati School, while they had throughout insisted they were 8220;private8221; students of St Xavier8217;s High School. According to the law, students who have not passed Std IX from a recognised school are regarded as privatestudents. Since St Xavier8217;s was not recognised and Dayanand Saraswati was, their headmaster had asked them to fill their forms through Dayanand Saraswati. However, the students learnt of this 8220;internal administrative arrangement8221; only days before the SSC exam in March. 8220;If students were part of the racket they would have tried to conceal the facts, which they haven8217;t,8221; said Raju Moray.

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After the summary inquiry was completed in July, the notification dated August 16 this year declared 64 students guilty and ordered cancellation of their performance in March 1999. A prohibition to appear for the SSC examination for the next three exams was also imposed on them.