NAVDEEPversusSTATE OF PUNJAB AND ORS.

                              NAVDEEP                                        A
                                 v.
                     STA TE OF PUNJAB AND ORS.

                              MAY 3, 2006

             [ARIJIT PASA YAT AND R.V. RAVEENDRAN, JJ.]                      B

     Service Law:

       Termination-Furnishing of tampered mark-sheet at the time of
selection-Enquiry Officer's report stating that tampering was to project C
eligibility for selection-Held: Enquiry Officer's conclusion cannot be termed
as perverse to warrant any interference-However, employee having worked
for JO years with blemishless record, Government may consider her
reappointment-Administrative action.

       Appellant, a Teacher in Government School was terminated from service
                                                                             D
on the ground that at the time of selection, she had submitted tampered
marksheet. She filed Writ Petition before High Court challenging the
termination order. An enquiry was conducted. Enquiry Officer submitted a
report indicating that while the total marks in the mark sheet remained same,
there was reduction of marks in one subject and increase in another and that - E
although she had not obtained any advantage out of it, yet the obvious purpose
of tampering was to obtain a certain percentage of marks required for being
eligible to get Government job. High Court accepted the report and dismissed
Writ Petition. Hence the present appeal.

     Disposing of the appeals, the Court                                      F
      HELD: The Enquiry Officer's report is based on evaluation of the
materials examined by him. There is no dispute raised by the appellant that
she had secured 86 marks in Economics and not 124, and similarly in
Computer Application she had secured 140 marks and not 102. The obvious
purpose for the change, is to project that she had secured certain percentage G
of marks which made her eligible for admission into the higher courses. The
Enquiry Officer's conclusions cannot be termed as perverse to warrant any
interference. That being so, the action taken by the authorities cannot be
faulted. But at the same time it is not disputed by the respondents that the
                                    753                                      II
    754                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS (2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A appellant possess the minimum educational qualification for admission even
    though the tampered marks are out of consideration. A person who resorts
    to tampering of mark sheet should not be shown any leniency. But considering
    the fact that she had rendered about 10 years of service without almost any
    blemish and appears to have otherwise a good academic record, on the peculiar
B   facts of the case, the Government must consider whether a fresh appointment
    can be given to her ignoring the tampered marks. It is entirely in the
    discretion of the Government, and no mandate is issued.1753-B-El

          CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 2447 of 2006.

C        From the Judgment and Order dated 12.8.2004 of the High Court of
    Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in C.W.P. No. 14654/2003.

          Sudhir Walia and Mahinder Singh Dahiya for the Appellant.

          S.K. Gambhir, A.S. Sona!, Sarup Singh, R.K. Pandey, Arnn K. Sinha, Ram
D Ekbal Roy, Harshvardhan Jha and M.P. Jha for the Respondents.
          The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

          ARIJIT PASAYAT, J. Leave granted.

          Challenge in this Appeal is to the legality of judgment rendered by a
E Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissing the writ
    petition filed by the appellant who had questioned her termination of services
    by the respondents I to 4 i.e. State of Punjab and its functionaries. The order
    of termination was passed on the ground that she has tampered with her mark
    sheet to get employment. Enquiry was conducted and it was found that she
F   had tampered with the mark sheet.

          Background facts in a nutshell are as follows :

          After passing the matriculation examination, appellant joined R.R. Bawa,
    DAV College for Girls, Batala, Punjab under the Guru Nanak Dev University,
G   Amritsar, (in short the 'University') respondent No.5. In June, 1995 she
    passed the B.Sc. (Economics), Part lil examination securing 418 marks out of
    800 marks. On the basis of the mark list submitted, she was admitted to the
    B.Ed. course under the University and passed the B.Ed. examination also. She
    was selected as JBT teacher in a Government aided School i.e. Ved Kaur Arya
    Girls High School, Quadian, Gurdaspur for teaching mathematics. While working
H   as a teacher she completed her M.A. (Economics) examination by
               NAVDEEPv. STATEOFPUNJAB[PASAYAT,J.]                       755

correspondence course from Punjab University, Patiala. While she was working A
as JBT teacher a news item was published indicating that 55 teachers obtained
fake degrees and their services were terminated. Name of appellant was one
of them. The orders of termination were passed on the basis of the orders
passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a Public Interest Litigation.
Appellant came to know that the allegations so far as she is concerned related
to alleged tampering of marks in B.Sc. Part Ill, that is she had actually secured B
86 marks in Economics and not 124, and in Computer Application she had
secured 140 marks and not 102 as was shown in the mark sheet produced by
her. On verification of the records from the University, it was clear that while
her total marks remained same, there was increase in the marks of Computer
Application while there was a decrease in marks of Economics. A writ petition C
was filed challenging the termination of her services. The High Court issued
the notices to the respondents and the University. An enquiry was conducted
by the University and the Enquiry Officer submitted a report which clearly
indicated that there was reduction of marks in one subject and increase in the
other. Stand of the appellant was that she has not got any benefit out of the
alleged tampering and she was not responsible for the same. But her claim D
was not accepted. Though the Enquiry Officer found that she had not obtained
any advantage out of it, yet the Enquiry Report was to the effect that the
obvious purpose for tampering was to obtain a certain percentage of marks
required for being eligible for admission. After verifying the documents in
question, it was concluded that she had tampered with the mark sheet. It was E
concluded that there was only one purpose with which the tampering was
done i.e. to take advantage in various admissions and selections in a
government job as a teacher. The High Court accepted the report and dismissed
the writ petition.

      Learned counsel for the appellant submitted that the Enquiry Officer       F
had himself came to hold that the appellant has not taken any advantage. In
any event she had higher qualification than the minimum educational
qualification required for the post of a teacher and, therefore, even ignoring
the disputed marks, she was clearly eligible.

      In response, learned counsel for the respondents submitted that one G
who seeks equity to be done must come with clean hands. The various
documents examined by the Enquiry Officer clearly reveal that it was appellant
herself who was responsible for the tampering. Her so called ignorance and
claim of innocence is clearly untenable. When it was noticed that she had
been caught, a feeble plea was taken that she did not verify the correctness H
    756                     SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2006] SUPP. I S.C.R.

A of the marks with the official records. In the records of the College from where
    the mark sheet was taken, the correct marks were recorded. She had signed
    in token of having verified the marks.

          The Enquiry Officer's report is based on evaluation of the materials
    examined by him. There is no dispute raised by the appellant that in fact she
B   had secured 86 marks in Economics and not 124, and similarly in Computer
    Application she had secured 140 marks and not 102. The obvious purpose for
    the change as has been rightly noticed by the Enquiry Officer, is to project
    that she had secured certain percentage of marks which made her eligible for
    admission into the higher courses. In any event, the Enquiry Officer's
C   conclusions cannot be termed as perverse to warrant any interference. That
    being so, the action taken by the authorities cannot be faulted.

          But at the same time it is not disputed by the respondents that the
    appellant possess the minimum educational qualification for admission even
    though the tempted marks are out of consideration. Learned counsel for the
D   respondent-State is right in his submission that a person who resorts to
    tampering of mark sheet should not be shown any leniency. But considering
    the fact that she had rendered about 10 years of service without almost any
    blemish and appears to have otherwise a good academic record, on the
    peculiar facts of the case, the Government would do well to consider whether
    a fresh appointment can be given to her ignoring the tampered marks.
E   Considering the peculiar circumstances, the matter may be considered in its
    proper perspective taking into account the various factors. It is entirely in the
    discretion of the Government, and there is no mandate issued by us.

          The appeal is disposed of accordingly. No costs.
F D.G.                                                        Appeal disposed of.