Kerala High Court Extends Last Date To Apply For Plus One Course In State Board Till 22nd July

The Kerala High Court on Thursday extended till next hearing the interim order passed in the petition seeking an extension of the last date to apply for Plus One Course in the State Stream till mark sheets of the CBSE Class X Examination are published.

Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V observed that a delay of a day or two cannot be a reason to deprive the students of the State of Kerala who have been pursuing their education in the CBSE stream till Standard X, if they wish to migrate to the State Board.

The Court had passed an interim order in this case on 18th July, extending the last date for submission of application to Plus One Course till 21st July.

The second respondent appearing through Senior Government Pleader, Advocate Nisha Bose, submitted a statement as per the direction of the Court that the CBSE Class X examination results had not been declared so far and if the results were published on or before 20th July, then the respondent was prepared to grant time to enable them to 21st to 23rd July. However, since there is no indication as to the probable date of the results, the second respondent cannot indefinitely postpone the last date for submission of application for Higher Secondary Course in the State Stream. 

It was further submitted that Plus One Courses are scheduled to commence from 17th August; even then, it would be a challenging task to meet the 200 working days during the academic year 2022-23. The second respondent intends to achieve that by holding classes on Saturdays as well, and any further enlargement of time to submit applications will cause undue delay in the allotment process and prolong the commencement of the classes after over 4 lakhs students are awaiting to secure admission to Plus One Course. 

It is also submitted that the respondent is prepared to offer the option of a supplementary allotment process to the CBSE students. 

Advocate S. Nirmal, Standing Counsel for the CBSE, submitted that there are no positive instructions as regards the date on which the CBSE intends to publish the Standard X results. However, it is submitted that some delay had occurred due to the pandemic, and the Central Board cannot be blamed as such. 

Referring to a Kerala High Court Division Bench decision, where a simple matter was being heard, the Court, while considering the rights of the students who intend to migrate to the State Board from the CBSE, held that CBSE students could not be denied a choice to apply for the Plus One course in the State as it would amount to denying them equality and the right of choice. Rejecting the argument of the State that 10 per cent of seats can be reserved for CBSE students, the Court, in that case, had observed that it may amount to classification with no rational basis and may lead to administrative chaos.

The Court opined that one could not ignore the fact that the entire academic schedule was disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the CBSE is a National Board, and the delay of a day or two cannot be a reason to deprive the students of the State of Kerala who has been pursuing their education in the CBSE stream till Standard X to migrate to the State Board.

The Case has been posted for 22 July and continuing the interim order till then. 

Case Title: Ameen Saleem & anr. v. State of Kerala & ors. 

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw(Ker) 367

Click Here To Read/Download The Interim Order.