Kalpataru case: HC allows students to sit for exams

SHILLONG: The High Court of Meghalaya on Friday questioned the Director of School Education and Literacy for not complying with its order to allow registration of students of Kalpataru Academy who qualified for the academic year 2016-17.
The court also instructed that all schools should make a separate set of question papers and fix a date for the students of the academy to sit for their examinations.
During the hearing on Friday, when Director Ambrose Ch. Marak was asked why he did not comply with the Court’s order dated September 29, 2016, he could not give any satisfactory answer.  The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the students who passed Class X from Kalpataru and got admitted in different schools were not allowed to sit for the examination on the grounds that the Board that issued certificates was not recognised.
The Court said in its previous order last September, it had specifically directed the Government to allow the qualified students to register their names and the same was reproduced herein below for ready reference.
However, the High Court felt that since the order was not taken seriously, it amounted to contempt of Court.
“However, before proceeding further, I direct the respondents to allow all the students including those who have filed a petition to implead themselves in this instant writ petition to sit for the examination and that the examination should be concluded within  two weeks from today (Friday),” the Court said.
Though the counsel for the petitioner who has applied for impleadment was not present before the Court, it allowed the petition to implead them as necessary parties.
Marak was further directed to instruct all the schools to make a separate set of question papers and to fix a date for their examination as the examination on two papers is already over.
The compliance order is to be placed before the Court on February 13 and the matter has been fixed after three weeks for final hearing.