Chennai: Student wins 10-year-long battle to get DTE certificate

Chennai: A girl student, who has been waging legal battle for over 10 years to get her DTE (Diploma in Teacher Education) course certificate, got a reprieve with Madras high court directing the director of government educations to publish her examination results immediately and issue the course certificate, besides paying her Rs 5,000 as cost to her in addition to Rs 5,000 cost already imposed by the consumer forum.

Justice S.S. Sundar gave the directive while dismissing a petition filed by the director, director of government examination, challenging an order of the district consumer disputes redressal forum, Salem.

After completing her plus-2, A. Rajewari joined DTE course in Rabindranath Tagore teacher training institute for girls in Salem district. She completed her first year course and secured 369 marks out of 450. When she was studying her second year DTE course in the year 2007, the institute terminated her on the ground that there was variation in total marks in the mark sheet produced by her and the aggregate marks secured by her.

Aggrieved, she approached the high court, which accepted her case that no correction has been made by her. The court also directed to issue fresh mark sheets to her and directed the institute to re-admit her in the second year course and allow her to complete the course.

Accordingly, she completed her second year course. But, results were not published by the directorate of public examination.  Aggrieved, she approached the district consumer forum, which accepted her case and directed the authorities to publish her results and issue her course certificate, besides imposing a cost of '5,000. Challenging the same, the director of public examination filed the present petition.

Dismissing the petition, the judge said after considering the facts of the case, a positive direction was given earlier, which was binding on the director and his subordinates. Despite the order they have not published her results.

The petitioner has now filed this petition in utter disregard to the order of this court thinking that the issue once settled by this court in the earlier round of litigation, can be re-agitated. The direction of the consumer forum to pay Rs 5,000 towards the mental agony suffered by her was justified. 

“This petition is pending from 2011 and it is stated that the petitioner has not published the results of the examination written by Rajeswari and hence the object of this petition is to circumvent the earlier order of this court,” the judge added and gave the above directive.