The Delhi High Court has made it clear that the records maintained by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) must be consistent with a person’s passport, as any contradiction can lead to confusion during employment or immigration procedures.
A Division Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar stated:
“A citizen is entitled to accurate and truthful information in all official documents related to them.”
The Court emphasized the importance of both the matriculation certificate and passport, calling them reliable and unquestionable proofs of a person’s date of birth.
This observation came while hearing an appeal filed by the CBSE against a single judge’s direction allowing Prema Evelyn D Cruz to correct her date of birth in the CBSE certificate. She had submitted her birth certificate issued by the Greater Chennai Corporation as proof and requested the authorities to make necessary corrections in all relevant documents that relied on the CBSE certificate.
CBSE, however, opposed the request by pointing out that it was made after the expiry of the time limit specified in its rules. They referred to the CBSE Bye-laws and the Weeding Out Rules, 1998, which allow the destruction of documents older than ten years. According to the CBSE, they no longer had any record related to D Cruz.
Read Also:- Supreme Court refuses to quash POCSO case against suspended judge in alleged incest case
In response, D Cruz argued that the time limit or missing records should not prevent correction when authentic public documents, like an official birth certificate, support the claim.
The Court referred to the Supreme Court’s decision in Jigya Yadav v. CBSE, affirming that:
“Public documents issued by competent authorities hold legal credibility and are presumed to be correct.”
Read Also:- Himachal Pradesh HC: Contractual Workers Deserve Regularization Despite Delay in Post Creation
The Bench found no valid reason for CBSE to ignore the birth certificate. It held that CBSE must recognize such lawful public documents and make necessary changes in its records.
Highlighting the seriousness of the matter, the Court said:
“If the CBSE record is at variance with the passport, it could lead to the creation of considerable doubt in the minds of any person who is considering Respondent No. 1 for employment, immigration or for any other purpose.”
Read Also:- Telangana High Court: Grants Bail to Gali Janardhan Reddy in Obulapuram Mining Scam Case
The Court further stated:
“There is thus an imminent need to ensure that all official documents are in consonance with each other, as this not only provides certainty regarding specific details contained in public documents but also helps preserve the identity of a citizen, with the date of birth being an essential facet.”
Concluding that D Cruz had taken all necessary steps to correct her records, the Court dismissed CBSE’s appeal and upheld the earlier judgment allowing the birth date correction.
Case Title: CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION v. PREMA EVELYN D CRUZ AND ANR
Counsel for Appellant: Mr. M.A. Niyazi, Ms. Anamika Ghai Niyazi, Ms. Kirti Bhardwaj, Mr. Arquam Ali, Ms. Nohmat Sethi
Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Rony O. John, Mr. Arshdeep Singh
