Judgment 1. In an application under Arts. 226 and 227 of the Constitution 43 students of Mazdoor High School, Sahidnagar Sindri have prayed that respondent No. 1 (Bihar School Examination Board) (hereinafter referred to as the Board) be directed to publish their results. 2. The relevant facts are these : It is said that petitioners Nos. 1 to 43 filled up the forms issued by respondent No. 1 for appearing in Bihar Secondary School Examination (Annual). They also deposited the examination fee and other charges for the same. These forms and the examination fees were sent to the Board through the Headmaster of the school (respondent No. 2). After receipt of the forms, the Secretary of the Board accepted the forms and issued admit cards allowing petitioners 1 to 43 to appear in the annual Bihar Secondary School Examination of 1976. In pursuance of the issue of the admit cards, these 43 petitioners appeared in the Bihar Secondary School Examination which was held in March, 1976. 3. The grievance of these petitioners is that though they appeared in the annual examination held by the Board but their results have been withheld by the Board. 4. Learned counsel for the Board states that the Board has published result of petitioners Nos. 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 38 and 42. It is also conceded by learned counsel for the petitioners as well as by learned counsel for respondent No. 2 that the results of the above mentioned 24 students have been published by the Board. It is also stated by learned counsel for the Board that the Board is investigating the cases of petitioners Nos. 1, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 22, 27, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41 and 43. It is stated by the learned counsel for the Board that after investigation the result of these students will be published. So far as the other two petitioners are concerned, namely, petitioners Nos. 5 and 40 it is stated by the learned counsel for the Board that Board has cancelled the candidature of these two petitioners because they have been found to be not regular students of the school. 5. So far as the other two petitioners are concerned, namely, petitioners Nos. 5 and 40 it is stated by the learned counsel for the Board that Board has cancelled the candidature of these two petitioners because they have been found to be not regular students of the school. 5. Learned counsel for the petitioners contends that since the Board issued the admit cards under R. 17 of the Bihar School Examination Board Regulations, 1964 (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations), it has no jurisdiction to withhold the result of petitioners Nos. 5, 40 and others. In this connection learned counsel refers to R. 17 of Chapter IV which is as follows:- "17. Issue of Admit Cards- (a) On receipt of the application for candidates to appear at the Boards examination, the Secretary shall, after satisfying himself that all the requirements for admission to the examination have been fulfilled, issue an admit card in the prescribed form in favour of the candidate and send the same to the Headmaster or Principal concerned or to the Superintendent of Centre at which the candidate will be appearing at the examination. (b) The Headmaster or the Principal or Centre Superintendent to whom Admit Cards are sent shall issue the cards to the candidates concerned, provided nothing has happened since the submission of the application form by the candidate to debar or disqualify any candidate from appearing at the examination. (c) If the Headmaster or Principal or Centre Superintendent withholds the Admit Card of any candidate he shall immediately return the same to the Secretary giving his reasons for withholding it." 6. These Regulations have been framed under S. 17 of the Bihar School Examination Board Act, 1952. There are two relevant Chapters in this connection, namely, Chapters IV and V. Chapter IV of the Regulations deals with the conditions under which the students shall be admitted to Secondary School or Higher Secondary School examination of the Board. Rules 2 and 3 deal with the eligibility of the students for appearing in the Bihar Secondary School examination. Rule 13 provides that the heads of the institution shall forward the applications of the candidates to the Secretary of the Board for permission to appear at the, Boards examination. Rules 2 and 3 deal with the eligibility of the students for appearing in the Bihar Secondary School examination. Rule 13 provides that the heads of the institution shall forward the applications of the candidates to the Secretary of the Board for permission to appear at the, Boards examination. Rule 14 provides that every sent up candidate shall send with his application for admission the prescribed fee for examination along with the certificate of the head of the institution that he is a bona fide student of his school and that he has attended the regular course of study in his school for one session immediately preceding the date of commencement of the examination of the Board. On receipt of the application, prescribed fee and the certificate of the head of the institution, the Secretary of the Board shall satisfy himself under R. 17 that all the requirements for permission to appear at the examination have been fulfilled and thereafter the Secretary of the Board shall issue the admit cards in the prescribed form in favour of the candidates. On a perusal of R. 17 it is clear that the Secretary of the Board after satisfying himself that all the requirements covered under Rr. 2, 3 (eligibility), 13 (application form) and 14 (prescribed fee and the certificate of the head of the institution) have been fulfilled then only in that case, he shall issue admit cards to the candidates under R. 17. If the Secretary comes to the conclusion that the student is not eligible as provided under Rr. 2 and 3, he shall not issue the admit card. If the Secretary is satisfied that the application is not in the proper form or the conditions laid down under R. 14 have not been fulfilled, the Secretary shall not issue the admit card. The Secretary shall issue the admit card provided he is satisfied that the requirements as laid down under Rr. 2 and 3 regarding eligibility and the conditions laid down in Rr. 13 and 14 have been fulfilled then only the Secretary shall issue the admit card and otherwise not. 7. If once the Secretary issues the admit card under R. 17 under Chapter IV of the Regulations later on the Board is debarred from inquiring about the eligibility of the student or about the defects in compliance with Rr. 13 and 14 have been fulfilled then only the Secretary shall issue the admit card and otherwise not. 7. If once the Secretary issues the admit card under R. 17 under Chapter IV of the Regulations later on the Board is debarred from inquiring about the eligibility of the student or about the defects in compliance with Rr. 13 and 14 of the Rules for the simple reason that the Secretary has issued the admit card after examining the eligibility of the students and after satisfying himself that all the requirements laid down under Chapter IV have been fulfilled by the students. On a perusal of R. 17, it is clear that once a student appears on the basis of the admit card, the Board has no jurisdiction to examine the validity of the eligibility of the student or the defect occurring in relation to Rr. 13 and 14 for the simple reason that the Secretary issued the admit card after satisfying himself that all the requirements for admission to the examination have been fulfilled. But before issuing the admit card the Secretary of the Board has certainly power to hold enquiry in respect of the eligibility of the students for appearing in the examination. The Secretary is also entitled to see as to whether all the requirements for the admission to the examination have been fulfilled by the students or not. But once he is satisfied that all the requirements for admission to the examination have been fulfilled and he issues admit card under R. 17 and the student sits in the examination in pursuance of the said admit card then the Board has no authority in law to withhold the result of any student on the ground that he was not eligible under Rr. 2 and 3 to appear in the examination or that he had not fulfilled the requirements laid down in Rr. 13 and 14. 8. Chapter IV deals with the conditions under which students shall be admitted to the examination. Chapter V deals with the conduct of the examination. This Chapter provides that the Board shall fix the centre and shall notify the date of examination. Learned counsel for the Board refers to Rr. 18 and 19 which are as follows: "18. 8. Chapter IV deals with the conditions under which students shall be admitted to the examination. Chapter V deals with the conduct of the examination. This Chapter provides that the Board shall fix the centre and shall notify the date of examination. Learned counsel for the Board refers to Rr. 18 and 19 which are as follows: "18. Malpractice, indiscipline, etc.- In any case where it is found that the examination has been violated by error, improper conduct, or other causes or where malpractice, fraud, or act of indiscipline or use of unfair means are reported to have been resorted to the Board shall have the power to cancel the examination or to withhold or amend the result in such cases and to take such other action as it may deem fit. In any case where the result of the examination has been ascertained and published and it is found that such result has been affected by error, malpractice, fraud, or any other cause whereby an examinee has in the opinion of the Board been party to or privy to or connived at such malpractice, fraud or improper conduct the Board shall have power at any time, notwithstanding the issue of the certificate to amend the result of such examinee and to make such declaration as it may consider necessary in that behalf." Rule 18 deals with the power of the Board to cancel the examination or to withhold or to amend the result in such cases and to take such other action as it may deem fit. Learned counsel for the Board contends that if a student was not eligible for appearing in the examination under Rr. 2 and 3 of Chapter IV, the Board has the power to withhold the result of such students even after he has appeared in the examination. I am afraid to accept this contention of the learned counsel for the Board for the simple reason that R. 18 deals with malpractice and indiscipline in course of the conduct of the examination. Rule 18 does not authorise the Board to withhold the result of any examinee on the ground of the eligibility of the student to appear in the examination. Rule 18 does not authorise the Board to withhold the result of any examinee on the ground of the eligibility of the student to appear in the examination. The Board is not entitled to hold fresh enquiry into the eligibility of the student for the simple reason that the Secretary had already held enquiry under R. 17 of Chapter IV of the Regulations before issuing admit card. The opinion of the Secretary of the Board under R. 17 of Chapter IV of the Regulations is final between the Board and the student and subsequently the Board is estopped from challenging the validity of the opinion of the Secretary. In this circumstance I hold that when a student has appeared in the examination on the basis of the admit card the question of eligibility of the student to appear in the examination cannot be challenged and the Board has no jurisdiction to withhold the result of such student on the ground that he was not eligible to appear in the examination for non-compliance of Cls. (2) and (3) of Chapter IV of the Regulations. 9. The enquiry under R. 17 of Chapter IV envisages an enquiry before holding the examination. Therefore, the Board is not entitled to make enquiry about the eligibility of the student after he has already appeared in the examination. Rule 17 of Chapter IV provides that the Secretary shall issue the admit cards after satisfying himself that all requirements covered by Chapter IV have been fulfilled for admission to the examination. If once the Secretary is satisfied that all the requirements of Chapter IV have been fulfilled then only he will issue the admit cards. If once an admit card has been issued and the student has already appeared in the examination, the Board has no jurisdiction to hold fresh enquiry in respect of the conditions laid down under Chapter IV of the Regulations. There is no provision in the Regulations to suggest that the Board has power to reinvestigate the conditions laid down under Chapter IV even if the student had already appeared in the examination. 10. In the present case the learned counsel for the Board contends that the Board shall not publish the result of petitioners Nos. 5 and 40 as they were not regular students of the school as envisaged under Cl. (2) of Chapter IV of the Regulations. 10. In the present case the learned counsel for the Board contends that the Board shall not publish the result of petitioners Nos. 5 and 40 as they were not regular students of the school as envisaged under Cl. (2) of Chapter IV of the Regulations. In my opinion the Board has no authority in law to withhold the result of petitioners Nos. 5, 40 and others in view of the fact that these petitioners appeared at the examination in pursuance of the issue of admit card by the Secretary of the Board. 11. In my opinion R. 19 of Chapter V does not authorise the Board to withhold the result of a student on the ground that he was not eligible to appear in the examination. Rule 19 deals with the behaviour of an examinee in course of the conduct of examination. It is not the case of the Board that these petitioners committed any malpractice or fraud at the time of the conduct of the examination. It is also not the case of the Board that these petitioners were party to the malpractice, fraud or improper conduct at the time of examination. In such circumstances I hold that neither Rule 18 nor R. 19 help the case of the Board. 12. In my opinion Chapter IV deals with the conditions under which students shall be admitted to the examination whereas Chapter V deals with the conduct of examination. These two chapters should not be mixed up. Under R. 17 of Chapter IV the Secretary shall issue admit card after satisfying himself that all requirements of Chapter IV have been fulfilled by the candidate. Rules 18 and 19 occur in Chapter V. These rules empower the Board to take action if any student commits mal-practice and indiscipline in the course of the conduct of examination. These Rules (18 and 19) do not authorise the Board to withhold the result of any student on the ground that he was not eligible to appear in the examination. In the present case the Board initiated enquiry about the eligibility of petitioners Nos. 5 and 40 when these petitioners had already appeared in the examination. The Secretary can hold enquiry about the eligibility of the student before issuing the admit card and not after that. 13. In the present case the Board initiated enquiry about the eligibility of petitioners Nos. 5 and 40 when these petitioners had already appeared in the examination. The Secretary can hold enquiry about the eligibility of the student before issuing the admit card and not after that. 13. In view of the fact that the Board has already published the result of 24 students, namely, petitioners Nos. 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 34, 38 and 42, I pass no order so far as these students are concerned but I direct the Board to publish the results of rest of the students. 14. In the result the application is allowed. Respondent No. 1 (Bihar School Examination Board) is directed to publish the result of the rest of the students, namely, petitioners 1, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 22, 27, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41 and 43 immediately.