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HIGH COURT OF TRIPURA

AGARTALA

WP(C) No.1024/2019

Smt. Sangita Chakraborty, Wife of Sri Runu Chakraborty, resident

of Village Purva Ramchandraghat, P.O. Ramchandraghat, District-

Khowai Tripura, Pin-799207.

----Petitioner(s)

Versus

The State of Tripura & others

-----Respondent(s)

For Petitioner(s) : Mr. Koushik Roy, Advocate,

Mrs. Riya Chakraborty, Advocate.

For Respondent(s) : Mr. D. Sharma, Addl. G.A.

HON’BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. AKIL KURESHI

Date of hearing and judgment: 22

nd

January, 2020.

Whether fit for reporting : YES.

JUDGMENT & ORDER(ORAL)

Heard learned counsel for the parties for final disposal of

the petition.

2. Petitioner has challenged the decision of the respondents

in declaring her to have failed in Tripura Teachers‟ Eligibility Test

(hereinafter to be referred to as T-TET). She has prayed that she

may be declared “pass” at the said examination which was held on

30.12.2018.

3. Brief facts are as under:

Petitioner holds a degree of Bachelor in Arts from

Kamalpur Government Degree College which she passed in the year

2006. Thereafter she had also completed a Diploma Course of

2(two) years in Elementary Degree from Kamalpur. From an

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affidavit dated 20.01.2020 filed by Sri Dinesh Chandra Sarkar,

Deputy Secretary to the Government of Tripura, School Education

Department, one gathers that for a person to be eligible for

appointment as a teacher in Elementary School he/she must pass

T-TET conducted in two parts in two separate papers. Paper-I would

be for the teachers for classes I to V. Paper-II would be for the

teachers for classes VI to VIII. Total marks in each paper would be

150. A candidate must secure a minimum 60% marks to pass.

There would be a relaxation of 5% marks for SC/ST/Physically

Handicapped candidates. The certificate of pass would hav e a

validity of 7(seven) years. The respondents decided to hold the T-

TET on 30.12.2018.

4. The petitioner appeared in such examination in the

subject of Social Studies held on 30.12.2018. The respondents

published a tentative result sheet on 01.01.2019 seeking feedback

from the candidates. Final result was published on 14.01.2019. The

petitioner was shown to have secured 88 out of 150 marks and

was, therefore, declared unsuccessful. Case of the petitioner is that

the authorities had wrongly treated petitioner‟s answers to six of

these questions as incorrect answers. The petitioner would point

out that all 150 questions were Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ, for

short). Petitioner has dispute with her answers being declared

incorrect in relation to questions No.41, 69, 79, 82, 83 and 101. For

convenience the respective questions with multiple choices

indicated in the question paper, the answers given by the petitioner

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to these questions and the correct answers according to the

respondents are provided in a tabular form below:

Sl.

No.

Question Answer given by

the petitioner

Answer in the final

Result Sheet (Page 19)

1. Question No.101 : The

largest coal mine of India

is-

A. Jharia Mines, B. Gevra

Mines, C. Singareni

Mines, D. None of the

above.

A. Jharia Mines B. Gevra Mines

2. Question No.79:‟Hawa’

and „Lal‟, both the words

are-

A. Arabi, B. Deshi, C.

Tatsham, D. None of the

above.

C. Tatsham A. Arabi

3. Question No.41: We

walked_____the edge of

the desert-

A. Upto, B. Until, C. As

far as, D. None of the

above.

A. Upto C. As far as

4. Question No.69 : When

was Rabindranath

Tagore‟s „Gitanjali‟ Novel

published-

A. 1913, B. 1912, C.

1910, D. None of the

above.

B. 1912 C. 1910

5. Question No.82 : The

students like those

teachers, who are-

A. Who runs as per

student‟s dictation, B.

Who allows leave now

and then, C. Who can tell

good stories, D. None of

the above.

C. Who can tell

good stories

D. None of the above

6. Question No.83 : The

language to be learnt

properly for which the

important thing is that-

A. Right voice

pronunciation, B. Hearing

attentively, C. Speaking,

D. None of the above.

B. Hearing

attentively

A. Right voice

pronunciation

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the

petitioner had given the correct answers to all these questions. The

respondents wrongly declared these answers as incorrect. He

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submitted that some of the answers of the petitioner are supported

by authentic publications approved by the State authorities. The

petitioner was, therefore, wrongly declared to have failed in the

said examination. He submitted that the decision of the examining

body is open to judicial review, even if it may be very limited. In

this context, he relied on the decision of Supreme Court in case of

Kanpur University and others vrs. Samir Gupta and others ,

reported in (1983) 4 SCC 309 and of a learned Single Judge of

Calcutta High Court in case of Naba Gopal Mandal vrs. State of

West Bengal and ot hers decided on 13.02.2019 in WP(C) No.

3476(W) of 2018 .

6. On the other hand, learned Addl. Government Advocate

opposed the petition contending that the examination was

conducted by the Teachers‟ Recruitment Board, Tripura (hereinafter

to be referred to as TRBT). The decisions of the experts body in the

field of education and examination would not be open to challenge

in a writ petition. He relied on the following decisions of Supreme

Court in this respect:

(i) Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commissio n,

through its Chairman and another vrs. Rahul Singh and

another, reported in (2018) 7 SCC 254; and

(ii) Ran Vijay Singh and others vrs. State of Uttar

Pradesh and others, reported in (2018) 2 SCC 357 .

7. First, one may examine the powers of a writ Court while

entertaining a challenge to the decision of an expert body, in

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particular in the field of education. Undoubtedly, the scope of

judicial review would be extremely narrow. The Court does not

profess to possess knowledge in specialized fields. Particularly when

the conduct of the examination and assessment of the answers of

the candidates is at the hands of expert bodies such as the School

Board or the University, the role of a Court in dissecting the

correctness or otherwise of the decision of such an expert body

would be extremely limited. Unless and until a glaring error, an

omission or an incorrection which emerges ex facie from the record

is pointed out, the Court would undoubtedly hold a healthy regard

for the opinion of such expert body and would always hesitate in

overruling the decision of such a body. In a detailed decision the

Supreme Court in case of Ran Vijay Singh and others (supra)

has summarized the principles applicable in such situations. It is

observed inter alia that the Court should not re-evaluate or

scrutinize the answer sheets of a candidate. The Court should

presume the correctness of the key answers and proceed on that

assumption. In the event of doubt, the benefit should go to the

examination authority. Sympathy or compassion would have no role

to play in such process. Likewise, in case of Uttar Pradesh Public

Service Commission, through its Chairman and another vrs.

Rahul Singh and another (supra), the Supreme Court advocated

a strong need for judicial restraint in such matters of examining the

correctness of key answers.

8. Nevertheless there are bound to be some cases,

howsoever few and far between they may be, where an expert body

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can also make an error. Situations are not unknown where

examining bodies such as the recruiting agencies, such Public

Service Commissions and even School Boards concede to errors in

the questions or sometimes the keys to the answers. The scope of

judicial review in such cases is not totally shut out.

9. In case of Kanpur University and others vrs. Samir

Gupta and others (supra), the Supreme Court had observed that

if the paper-setter has committed an error while indicating the

correct answer to a question set by him , the students who have

given the correct answer cannot be failed for the reason that

though the answer is correct it is not in conformity to the answer

supplied by the paper-setter to the University.

10. With this background, we may refer to the questions

disputed by the petitioner. Insofar as questions at Sl. Nos.2, 3 and

4 of the above table (Questions No.79, 41 and 69 respectively in

the examination paper) are concerned, the same require no

interference. The presumption of correctness of the questions and

the correct answer key has not been dislodged. Merely because the

petitioner has raised some doubt about the question or the correct

answer, would not be sufficient to disturb the final decision of the

examining body.

11. However, the questions at Sl. Nos.1, 5 and 6 (Questions

No.101, 82 and 83 respectively in the question paper) stand on a

different footing. I may first deal with questions at Sl. Nos.5 and 6.

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For convenience one may reproduce the question with the multiple

choices indicated in the examination paper:

Question No.82: The students like those teachers, who are-

A. Who runs as per student‟s dictation,

B. Who allows leave now and then,

C. Who can tell good stories,

D. None of the above.

If one reads the question, it immediately becomes clear

that the same is not possible of any compre hension. Even the

question itself “The students like those teachers, who are-” makes

no meaning in ordinary grammatical English language. The multiple

choices offered by the examiner only compound s this confusion. By

merely stating that the correct answer in such a question would be

none of the above, the inherent ambiguity and fallacy of the

question itself would not disappear. Multiple choice questions or

MCQ as is popularly referred to are questions where one or several

choices indicated, only one is correct. Such method of testing

knowledge of the examinee with precision also requires great

precision at the hands of examiner. Any ambiguity, imperfection in

the question or possibility of more answers than one being correct

would destroy the validity of the question itself. This question must

therefore be discarded.

12. Question at Sl. No.6 with multiple choices presented was

as under:

Question No.83 : The language to be learnt properly for

which the important thing is that-

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A. Right voice pronunciation,

B. Hearing attentively,

C. Speaking,

D. None of the above.

Even this question in my opinion like in case of the

previous one, simply makes no sense and defies all logic. What

does “The language to be learnt properly for which the important

thing is that-” mean is difficult to comprehend. Even if that question

is accepted as it is, any of the choices presented by the examiner

would fit the answer. All in all both the questions are simply beyond

any logical comprehension. This is not to suggest that the answers

given by the petitioner to such questions were correct or should be

treated as correct. This is only to suggest that both the questions

must be discarded for evaluation of the petitioner‟s answers.

13. This brings us to the question at Sl. No.1 (No.101 in

question paper). The question and the multiple choices presented in

the question paper are as under:

Question No.101: The largest coal mine of India is-

A. Jharia Mines,

B. Gevra Mines,

C. Singareni Mines,

D. None of the above.

14. The petitioner had given answer (A) as a correct choice

meaning Jharia Mines. According to the petitioner this is the largest

coal mine in India. The respondents had given answer (B) as a

correct answer i.e. Gevra Mines, which according to them is the

largest. In this context, learned counsel for the petitioner pointed

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out that in several Government approved books it is stated that the

largest coal mine in the country is Jharia Mines. My attention was

drawn to the question s on Social Studies (Geography and

Economics) for Class-X published by Parul Prakashani Pvt. Ltd.

which claimed the basis of its information to Tripura Government

Circular dated 10.11.2016, which contained following information:

“Jharkhand: it is the first place which occupies

in Coal Drilling (8035356.20 million metric ton). Here

the important Coal mines are Jharia, Chandrapura,

Bokaro, Ramgar, North & South Kaoapura, Girdi,

Jayanti, Daltanganj, Panchwara, etc. The Jharia

Coal mine of Damodar Valley is the largest Coal

mine of India. Here from the coal mines, the high

category bitumen coal is available.”

15. Likewise in Modern Social Studies (Geography and

Economics) for Class-X published by Goodluck Publishers, following

information is provided:

“Jharkhand: In drilling of coal this State

has acquired the first place. The main coal mines

of the State are Jharia (largest in India), Bokaro,

Chandrapura, Karanpura, Ramgar, Hajaribhag,

Dhanbad, Rajmahal, Daltanganj etc.”

16. In “Geography Tutor” for Class-X published by Goodluck

Publishers, following information is provided:

“51. Largest Coal Mine in India-

(i) Talchere (ii) Jamuria

(iii) Jharia (iv) Korbaye

Answer:- (iii) Jharia.”

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17. In “Social Science Teacher” for Class-VIII published by

Chaya Prakashani which is approved by Tripura Board of Secondary

Education, following information is provided:

“30. Largest Coal Mine in India-

A. Jharia B. Raniganj

C. Bokaro D. Korbaye

Answer:- Jharia (30-A)”

18. Thus multiple sources in public domain clearly indicate

that Jharia mines are the largest coal mine s in India. This

information is provided in questions and answers compiled by

various publishers specifically for the purpose of preparation in such

and similar examinations. Some of these publications are either

approved by the School Board of the State or trace their source of

information to Government of Tripura circulars. The respondents

cannot lightly discard the information so consistently provided in

various such sources and take the shelter of such publications being

made by private publishers. Had an isolated publisher and that too

unsupported by any Government source , provided such

information, it was open for the respondents to ignore the same

and insist that the petitioner‟s answer was wrong. However, in the

present case the answer is consistently published in several

publications. Some of them tracing their source to Government

authenticated sources. The petitioner cannot be blamed for giving

an answer so widely publicized. Petitioner must, therefore, get

1(one) mark for attempting the said question correctly.

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19. Sum total of this discussion would be that the

performance of the petitioner shall have to be judged on the basis

of the total of 148 marks [discarding the questions No.82 and 83 of

the original question paper] and awarding 1(one) mark where

0(zero) was awarded in question No.101. The petitioner would thus

get 89 out of the total of 148 marks which would work out to more

than 60% which is the minimum pass mark s. The respondents shall

modify the result of the petitioner and issue necessary certificate of

pass which shall be done within a period of one month from today.

20. Petition is disposed of accordingly.

Pending application(s), if any, also stands disposed of.

(AKIL KURESHI ), CJ

Pulak