Delhi High Court directs CBSE to declare Class X student’s result who failed to pay School fee due to Covid-19

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) to declare a Class X student’s result even though he had failed to pay the school's fee, due to his financial condition during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula stated that Court was aware that the attendance criteria must be met as a prerequisite for appearing in the examinations and that this requirement should not be diluted in any way, however, the COVID-19 pandemic affected several families, causing them to lose their sources of income and fall into poverty, which affected children’s education.

Petitioner Arham Hassan, a class X student, approached the High Court in November 2021 to allow him to appear in his board examination. Pursuant to the interim directions, Hassan was permitted to take the Term-I Class-10th Board Examinations. Following that, he took the Term-II Class-10th Board examination. The outcome, however, was withheld.

The counsel for CBSE opposed Hassan’s petition citing non-compliance with the eligibility criteria due to lack of required/qualifying attendance which Hassan attributed the shortfall in attendance to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Contrary, the counsel for Hassan argued that he was not permitted to attend classes due to his inability to deposit the required school fee and the school-issued circulars issued by the Directorate of Education, GNCTD on April 18, 2020, and August 28, 2020, mandated them to allow Hassan to attend classes despite the delay/default in payment of the fee.

Court noted that Hassan was permitted to attend online classes, and after the High court's intervention by order of January 13, 2022, wherein the counsel for the school was directed to "ensure that Hassan's parents and the School coordinate towards the settlement of the disputed fees, so that he is permitted to attend classes and can make up the shortfall in attendance before the next session of Class X examination”.

Court also noted that in January 2022 Hassan was added to the school’s WhatsApp group, where the link for attending classes was shared by the school, allowing him to take online classes.

The court found merit in Hassan’s contentions that the DoE and GNCTD circulars should have been followed by the school and he should have been allowed to attend classes despite the failure to pay the fees.

Accordingly, Court held that the attendance shortfall was caused by an error on the part of the school, not Hassan, and his financial situation and the COVID-19 pandemic situation were also factors that prevented him from attending the online classes.

“Hassan was directly impacted by the failure to pay the fee as he was unable to attend online classes. Therefore, he is entitled to be exempted from the requirement of meeting the attendance requirement”, the court added.

Thus, Court disposed of the petition, directing the CBSE to declare Hassan’s result for both the terms of Class 10th Board examinations by Tuesday i.e. August 23, 2022.

Case Title: Arham Hassan through his father Abid Hasan v. CBSE & Ors.