Pragya Priya Saikia v. The State of Assam and 8 Ors

ORDER Date : 05.09.2024

¶1Heard Mr. P.K. Deka, learned counsel for the petitioner.

¶2Also heard Mr. B. Kaushik, learned Standing counsel, Secondary Education Department, for respondent Nos. 1 & 6; Mr. T.C. Chutia, learned Standing counsel, SEBA, for respondent Nos. 2 to 5 and Ms. Wabangla, Learned counsel appearing on behalf of Mr. R. Mazumder, learned Standing counsel, Dibrugarh University, for respondent No. 9.

¶3The brief fact of the case is that while the petitioner was studying in Class-I, the petitioner was adopted by one Kumar Bharat Saikia by an Adoption Deed No. 915 dated 26.05.2010 and her name was changed from "Pragya Priya Dutta" to "Pragya Priya Saikia" and her father's name was also changed from Arun Dutta (biological father) to Kumar Bharat Saikia (adoptive father). The name of the petitioner's mother Nizora Dutta @ Dipti Dutta (biological mother) was also changed to Renuka Saikia (adoptive mother). Thereafter, the same was intimated to the Principal of her institution, namely, Srimanta Sankerdev Academy, Tarajan Gayan Gaon, Jorhat after her adoption with a prayer for correction of the petitioner's Title and other details in the said school's records by a Letter dated 31.08.2010. Accordingly, the petitioner was issued School Identity Cards from time to time till she reached her Class-X, wherein, the names of her adoptive parents were rightly recorded. However, when the petitioner was issued her HSLC Admit Card, the Board of Secondary Education, Assam recorded the name of the petitioner's father as Arun Chandra Dutta and Page No.# 4/5 the name of the petitioner's mother as Nizora Dutta instead of names of her adoptive parents. Accordingly, the petitioner made a representation before the Secretary of SEBA, Guwahati/Respondent No. 2 on 29.08.2022 with a prayer for correction of her Title as well as names of her adoptive parents in the said HSLC Admit Card. The petitioner also made an online application before the Board of Secondary Education, Assam on 11.08.2023 for correction in her Registration Card, Admit Card, Marksheet, Pass Certificates with regard to her Title as well as correction of the names of her adopted parents. However, by a Communication dated 26.06.2024 written by the Deputy Controller of Examinations, Board of Secondary Education, Assam, the petitioner was informed that her application for correction of her parents' names could not be considered inasmuch as it is not allowed by the provisions of the Board.

¶4The Further case of the petitioner is that the Title of the petitioner as well as the names of her adopted parents has been rightly recorded in all the public documents, i.e., Aadhar Card, PAN CARD and Voter Identity Card etc. As the case of the petitioner was rejected by the Communication dated 26.06.2024, the petitioner is before this Court by way of the present writ petition.

¶5The respondent Nos. 2, 3 & 4 have filed counter affidavit. However, Mr. T.C. Chutia, learned Standing counsel, SEBA as well as AHSEC, in his usual fairness submits that the petitioner may be directed to make a fresh representation before the concerned authorities and if the petitioner makes such representation, the same would be considered by the authorities.

¶6Accordingly, this writ petition is disposed of directing the petitioner to make a fresh representation before the Secretary, Board of Secondary Education, Assam/Respondent No. 2 through the Inspector of Schools, Jorhat District Circle

(JDC)/Respondent No. 6 within a period of 1 (one) week from today. Thereafter, Page No.# 5/5 on receipt of the representation to be made by the petitioner, the Respondent No. 6 shall forthwith forward the representation to the Respondent No. 2 along with corrected educational records of the petitioner from the Srimanta Sankerdev Academy, Tarajan Gayan Gaon, Jorhat. On receipt of such representation by the Respondent No. 2, the representation of the petitioner shall be considered and disposed of by a speaking order and in accordance with law within a period of 1 (one) month from the date of receipt of the representation after comparing all the educational records of the petitioner.

¶7With the aforesaid observations and directions, this writ petition is disposed of.

JUDGE Comparing Assistant

PageoNo.#o1/5 GAHC010154492024 ooooooo ooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooTHEoGAUHATIoHIGHoCOURTo (HIGHoCOURToOFoASSAM,oNAGALAND,oMIZORAMoANDoARUNACHALoPRADESH)o CaseoNo.o:oWP(C)/3892/2024o PRAGYAoPRIYAoSAIKIAo D/O-oSHRIoKUMARoBHARAToSAIKIA,o VILLAGE-oMALOWoALIoMONAIMAZI,o P.O.-oDHEKORGIRAH,o P.S.-oJORHAT,oDIST.-oJORHAT,oASSAM,o PIN-o785015. VERSUSo THEoSTATEoOFoASSAMoANDo8oORSo REPRESENTEDoBYoTHEoCOMMISSIONERoANDoSECRETARYoTOoTHEo GOVERNMENToOFoASSAM,o SECONDARYoEDUCATIONoDEPARTMENT,o DISPUR,oGUWAHATI-06. 2:THEoBOARDoOFoSECONDARYoEDUCATIONo(SEBA) oREPRESENTEDoBYoITSoSECRETARY o BAMUNIMAIDAM oASSAM oGHY-21. 3:THEoCONTROLLERoOFoEXAMINATION oBOARDoOFoSECONDARYoEDUCATIONo(SEBA) oBAMUNIMAIDAM oASSAM oGHY-21. 4:THEoDEPUTYoCONTROLLERoOFoEXAMINATIONS oBOARDoOFoSECONDARYoEDUCATIONo(SEBA) oBAMUNIMAIDAM Page No.# 2/5 ASSAM GHY-21. 5:THE ASSAM HIGHER SECONDARY EDUCATION COUNCIL (AHSEC) REPRESENTED BY ITS SECRETARY BHUBAN BHUYAN PATH RAILWAY COLONY BAMUNIMAIDAM ASSAM GHY-21. 6:THE INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS JORHAT DISTRICT CIRCLE (JDC) ATILAGAON DIST.- JORHAT ASSAM PIN- 785001. 7:SRIMANTA SANKARDEV ACADEMY REPRESENTED BY ITS PRINCIPAL TARAJAN GAYAN GAON P.O.- TARAJAN DIST.- JORHAT ASSAM PIN- 785001. 8:DEVICHARAN BARUA GIRLS (DCB) COLLEGE JORHAT REPRESENTED BY ITS PRINCIPAL KAKOTIGAON TARAJAN BHATEMORA GAON DIST.- JORHAT ASSAM PIN- 785001. 9:DIBRUGARH UNIVERSITY REPRESENTED BY ITS REGISTRAR DIBRUGARH ASSAM DIST.- DIBRUGARH ASSAM PIN- 785004 Advocate for the Petitioner : MR. P K DEKA, MS. N M LONGKENG,MR. R. KARIM,MR. P DAIMARY,MR. I H LASKAR Advocate for the Respondent : SC, SEC. EDU., SC, DIB. UNIVERSITY,SC, SEBA Page No.# 3/5 BEFORE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LANUSUNGKUM JAMIR