CBSE cannot deny students name change on certificates’

CBSE cannot deny students name change on certificates’

Right to change names is part of freedom of speech: SC

04/06/2021

Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on Thursday found a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) rule that prohibited students from changing or correcting their names on Board certificates, based on a presumption that it would affect “administrative efficiency”, far-removed from social realities and even “absurd”.

The court said the CBSE’s examination bylaws of 2007 made it look as if the Board was more concerned about administrative paperwork than the future prospects of its students, who use their certificates as a public document to go for higher studies and gain employment.

“Students stand to lose more due to inaccuracies in their certificates than the Board, whose sole worry is increasing administrative burden… Administrative efficiency cannot be the sole concern of CBSE. Every institution desires efficiency in their functioning. But it does not mean that efficiency is achieved by curbing their basic functions… One of the primary functions of CBSE is to grant certificates to its students,” a three-judge Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar observed in a 132-page judgment.

Right to be forgotten

On the other hand, the court illustrated how a juvenile accused of being in conflict with the law or a sexual abuse victim whose identity is compromised due to lapses by the media or the investigative body may consider changing the name to seek rehabilitation in the society in exercise of their right to be forgotten. “If the Board, in such a case, refuses to change the name, the student would be compelled to live with the scars of the past,” Justice Khanwilkar highlighted.

The court ordered the CBSE to take “immediate steps” to amend the by-laws and incorporate a mechanism outlined in the judgment “for recording correction or change, as the case may be, in the certificates already issued or to be issued by it”. The court said one’s name is an intrinsic element of identity. The right to change our name is part of the right to freedom of speech and expression