Punjab

Faridkot

CC/19/51

Jaideep Singh - Complainant(s)

Versus

Tej Public School - Opp.Party(s)

Gurpreet Singh Chauhan

16 Oct 2019

ORDER

    DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, FARIDKOT

 

            C.C. No. :                 51 of 2019

Date of Institution :   06.03.2019

Date of Decision :     16.10.2019

Jaideep Singh aged about 19 years s/o Mukhtiar Singh r/o Village Jhok Sarkari, Tehsil and District Faridkot.

                                    .....Complainant

Versus

1. Taj Public School, Village Jand Sahib, Tehsil and District Faridkot through its Principal.
2. Central Board of Secondary Education, Sector 5, Panchkula-134152 through its Head of Department/Chairman.
3. Central Board of Secondary Education, “Shiksha Kendra’, 2, Community Centre, Preet Vihar, Delhi, 110092 through its Chairman.

                                                                         .........OPs

Complaint under Section 12 of the

Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

 

Quorum:     Sh. Ajit Aggarwal, President,

Ms. Parampal Kaur, Member,

Present:       Sh Gurpreet Chauhan, Ld Counsel for complainant,                                                        

                      Sh Atul Gupta, Ld Counsel for OP-1,

 

 Sh Rajinder Singh Romana, Ld Counsel for OP-2 and OP-3.

 

 

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ORDER

(Ajit Aggarwal, President)

                                            Complainant has filed the present complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against OPs for deficiency in service and for seeking directions to OPs to correct the date of birth of complainant in the record of school as well as in the record of Board and for further directing OPs to pay compensation of Rs.50,000/- for inconvenience, harassment and mental agony suffered by complainants besides litigation expenses of Rs.11,000/-.

2                                              Briefly stated, the case of the complainant is that complainant took admission in the school of OP-1 in 10^th class and passed out his secondary class in May, 2018. It is submitted that as per Birth Certificate and Adhar Card, date of birth of complainant is 28.03.2000, but in the marks sheet and certificate of secondary education, his date of birth is wrongly mentioned as 12.05.2017. It is submitted that complainant passed out his 10^th standard in 2018 and it is not possible that date of birth of complainant is 12.05.2017. Complainant made requests to OPs to correct the same, but they did not do anything needful. Complainant also issued legal notice dated 20.02.2017 to OPs and he received reply from OP-1 wherein they admitted about the mistake committed and asserted that this mistake is done by OP-2 and  3. Grievance of the complainant is that despite repeated requests, OPs have

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not corrected the date of birth of complainant in the certificate issued by them, which amounts to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice. Complainant has prayed for accepting the complaint alongwith compensation for harassment and litigation expenses besides the main relief. Hence, the complaint.

3                                              The Counsel for complainant was heard with regard to admission of the complaint and vide order dated 11.03.2019, complaint was admitted and notice was ordered to be issued to the opposite parties.

4                                              On receipt of the notice, OP-1 filed written statement taking preliminary objections that educational matter is beyond the purview of this Forum and deserves to be dismissed. On merits, OPs have denied all the allegations of complainants being wrong and incorrect and asserted that there is no deficiency in service on the part of answering OPs. However, it is admitted by OP-1 that complainant passed out his secondary class from their school, but there is no negligence on the part of answering OP. It is averred that answering OP shared the e-mails to OPs on 21.02.2018 for correcting the date of birth of complainant. on 23.02.2018 Jawahar Navodya Vidyalya, Kauni also wrote letter to OPs. OP-1 also written letters to OP-2 and OP-3 on 19.07.2018; 5.09.2018; 29.09.2018; 22.11.2018 and on 12.01.2019 for making correction in respect of particulars regarding date of birth of complainant, but OP-2 and OP-3 did not correct the same for reasons best known to them. It is

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brought before the Forum that there is no negligence or deficiency in service on their part and only OP-2 and OP-3 is competent to rectify the mistake of wrong date of birth of complainant. All the other allegations and allegation with regard to relief sought too were refuted with a prayer that complaint may be dismissed with costs against the answering opposite party.

5                                              OP-2 and OP-3 appeared in the Forum through counsel, but despite availing sufficient opportunities, they did  not file written statement and therefore, vide order dated 15.07.2019, defence of  both OP-2 and OP-3 was struck off.

 6                                             Parties wanted to lead evidence to prove their respective pleadings and proper opportunity was given to them. The complainant tendered in evidence his affidavit Ex.C-1 and documents Ex C-2 to C-7 and then, closed the evidence.

7                                               In order to rebut the evidence of the complainant, Counsel for OP-1 tendered in evidence affidavit of Rajinder Kashyap, Principal, as Ex. OP-1/1 and documents Ex OP-1/2 to OP-1/11  and then, closed the evidence.

8                                                Ld Counsel for complainant argued that complainant took admission in the school of OP-1 in tenth standard and passed out his secondary class from there. As per certificate issued by

 

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Registrar of Births and Death, District Karnal and Adhar Card date of birth of complainant is 28.03.2000, but OPs have wrongly mentioned the same as 12.05.2017, which is altogether incorrect and unlawful. Complainant brought this mistake in the notice of the OPs and requested them to rectify the same, but no rectification is made by OPs, which amounts to deficiency in service and trade mal practice on the part of OPs. Complainant has prayed for rectification of date of birth in the certificates issued by OPs. In reply, OP-1 submitted before the Forum the Forum that there is no negligence or deficiency in service on the part of OP-1 and asserted that they have written many letters to OP-2 and Op-3 to make correction in said certificate by putting correct date of birth in it. It is further  submitted  by Op-1 that only OP-2 and OP-3 are competent to make correction in secondary class certificate and they have no competency to correct the same. It is reiterated that there is no deficiency in service on their part and prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs. On the other hand, there is no rebuttal from OP-2 and OP-3 side as they did not file written statement during proceedings of the case and their defence stood struck off by the orders of this Forum.

9                                        We have heard learned counsel for parties and have very carefully gone through the affidavits & documents placed on the file by complainant as well as opposite party.

10                                      From the careful perusal of record and evidence and pleadings put forward by respective parties, it is observed that it is the

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admitted case of parties that complainant took admission in the school of OP-1 in 10^th standard and passed out his senior class from there  in May,  2018.  i.e he remained there for long period of one year and completed his secondary level education from there. Grievance of complainant is that particulars regarding his date of birth are mentioned wrongly in mark sheet and secondary class certificate issued by OPs. Incorrect date of birth is mentioned in the record of school as well as in the record of CBSE, which is gross negligence on the part of OPs. When this thing came into his notice, he approached OPs and requested them to correct the same, but OPs refused to make any correction, which amounts to deficiency in service. To prove his pleadings, ld counsel for complainant brought our attention towards document Ex C-4 which is copy of birth certificate  issued by Registrar of Birth and Death, Karnal that proves the fact that date of birth of complainant is 28.03.2000. He further stressed on copy of adhar card Ex C-3 that also proves the same thing that date of birth of complainant is 28.03.2000. From the perusal of Ex C-2 i.e copy of mark sheet issued by Central Board of Secondary Education in the name of complainant, it is crystal clear that OPs have incorporated wrong date of birth in said  mark sheet instead of correct date of birth which is clearly depicted as 28.03.2000 on Birth Certificate Ex C-4 and Adhar Card Ex C-3. From Ex C-5 copy of legal notice dated 20.02.2019, there remains no doubt to the fact that complainant made requests to Ops to redress his grievance, to which OP-1 gave reply mentioning that they have no

 

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authority to make such correction and it can be corrected by OP-2 and OP-3.

11                               There is no doubt that complainant as well as his father made several requests to OPs to change his date of birth in their record in accordance with the Date of Birth Certificate issued by Registrar, Births & Deaths. When complainant approached OPs with request to change his date of birth in their record alongwith requisite documents, OPs should have made correction keeping in view the date given in Birth Certificate Ex C-4. OP-1 also admitted that there is mistake in the date of birth in the Roll Number, Mark Sheet and certificate issued by OP-2 and OP-3. The version of OP-1 is that on coming into knowledge regarding this mistake, they immediately wrote letter and e-mails to OP-2 and OP-3 to correct the date of birth of complainant and also sent many reminders in this regard. To prove their version, OP-1 produced on record copies of letters as Ex OP-1/2 to Ex OP-1/11. Hence, in these circumstances, we are of the considered opinion that act of OP-2 and OP-3 in not rectifying their own record amounts to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.

12                                            In the light of above discussion, complaint in hand is hereby allowed against OP-2 and OP-3 and stands dismissed against OP-1. Both OP-2 and OP-3 are ordered to correct the date of birth in their record as well as in the certificate issued to

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complainant as 28.03.2000 instead of 12.05.2017. OP-1 is directed to forward the application of complainant for the change of date of birth to OP-2 and 3 alongwith requisite documents i.e copy of Adhar Card, Birth Certificate and other relevant documents duly required for the correction. Compliance be made within one month of the receipt of the copy of the order, failing which complainants shall be entitled to proceed under section 25 and 27 of the Consumer Protection Act. Copy of the order be issued to parties as per rules. File be consigned to record room.

Announced in open Forum:

Dated: 16.10.2019

 

                                         (Param Pal Kaur)                   (Ajit Aggarwal)

Member                                      President