High Court of DelhiW.P.(C)/1369/2026

Red Carpet High School, Bihar v. Council Of Indian School Certificate Examinations

2026-03-17Hon'Ble Mr. Justice Jasmeet Singh25 pages

$~71 *

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

+ W.P.(C) 1369/2026 & CM APPL. 6747/2026, CM APPL. 6748/2026 CM APPL. 6749/2026, CM APPL. 11506/2026 RED CARPET HIGH SCHOOL, BIHAR .....Petitioner Through:

Mr Kirtiman Singh, Sr. Adv. with Mr Akshay Amritanshu, Mr Sarthak Srivastava, Mr Maulik Khurana and Mr Mayur Goyal, Advs.

versus COUNCIL OF INDIAN SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATIONS .....Respondents Through:

Mr. Rituraj Biswas, Adv., Mr. Mayan Prasad, Adv., Mr. Aayush Garg, Adv.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE JASMEET SINGH

O R D E R

% 17.03.2026 1.

This is a writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking the following prayers:- "a. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction quashing and setting aside the impugned order dated 15.01.2026 bearing Ref No.

CISCE/DisAffination/B1027 [Annexure P/1] whereby the affiliation with the CISCE or the Petitioner-School has been withdrawn] b. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction quashing and setting aside the Final Opportunity Notice dated 17.11.2025 [Annexure P/17 issued by the Respondent;

c. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

or direction quashing and setting aside the verification report and the letter elated 16.10.2025 [Annexure P/15] issued by the Respondent;

d. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction quashing and setting aside the Show Cause Notice dated 17.03.2025 [Annexure P/8 issued by the Respondent; e. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction quashing and setting aside the Surprise Inspection conducted on 18.02.2025 and the Inspection Reports dated 25.02.2025 and 27.02.2025 [Annexure P/7];

f. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction directing the Respondent to forthwith restore and continue the affiliation of the Petitioner School, as existing prior to the order dated 15.01.2026; ..."

The case of the petitioner is that the petitioner School was established in 1987 and since 06.06.2000, it has been affiliated with the respondent i.e., Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations, New Delhi ("CISCE"). The petitioner School has been continuously imparting education for last 25 years in accordance with CISCE norms.

A show cause notice dated 17.03.2025 was issued by the respondent proposing withdrawal of affiliation on alleged grounds including violation of CISCE norms and that the petitioner School was sponsoring students from another school namely, St. Paul's International School. The petitioner duly replied to the said show cause notice vide letter dated 11.04.2025, explaining its stand and refuting the allegations.

Another email was issued on 10.09.2025 seeking information as The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

under:- 5.

It is stated that the information was supplied though in part. 6.

The petitioner filed a writ petition challenging the actions of the respondent being W.P.(C) 14648/2025, which was allowed vide order dated 26.09.2025, wherein the operative paragraphs read as under:- The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

"5. A perusal of the short reply shows that the respondent Board has taken a stand to the effect that bona fide students Classes of IX and X will be registered and confirmed, even after 30.09.2025.

6. Elaborating further, he submits that the verification drive is going on and the same will be concluded by the end of October and post-conclusion of such verification, the registration of Classes IX and X bona fide students of the petitioner school shall be permitted.

7. The attention of the Court has also been drawn to the para 10, 12 & 13 of the counter affidavit, which reads thus: "10. It is submitted that based on the verification process and the decision of the Executive Committee, the registration for all the bona fide students i.e. the registration of all the students of the petitioner school who are not sponsored from other schools shall be allowed for the 2026 and the 2027 ICSE Examination. It is submitted that such registration shall be allowed for the bona-fide unsponsored students even after the date of 30.09.2025. It is submitted that no late fees shall be charged for such students.

xxxx xxxx xxxx

12. Therefore, in respect of Prayer (a) and (b) it is submitted that bona-fide class IX and Class X students will be registered and confirmed respectively, even after 30.09.2025. In respect to Prayer (c) it is The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

submitted that no late fee/penalty shall be charged from the bona-fide students who are being registered after 30.09.2025. In respect to Prayer (d) it is submitted that the time limit shall be extended beyond 30.09.2025 for the registration of students for Class IX and for confirmation of students in Class X for the bonafide students of the petitioner school.

13. It is further submitted that the respondent will waive the late payment charges or the levy of penalty for Registration of students of Class IX and "Confirmation of Entries" for the students of Class X for the bona fide students"

8. In view of the above, the short reply dated 25.09.2025 of the respondent Board is taken on record and the respondent shall remain bound by the stand taken therein.

9. No further orders are called for in the present petition.

10. The petition stands disposed of in the above terms.

11. Needless to say that in case the grievance of the petitioner still subsists after the conclusion of verification drive or if the decision is not taken by the Board till the end of October 2025, it shall be at liberty to approach the Court afresh, if so advised."

Pursuant thereto, the respondent issued letter dated 16.10.2025, which also contained a verification report (paragraph No. 8), which reads as under:- The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

The said letter was duly replied by the petitioner vide reply dated 23.10.2025. Thereafter, the respondent issued the "Final Opportunity Notice" dated 17.11.2025, which referred to respondent's earlier letter dated

16. 10.2025 and petitioner's reply dated 23. l 0.2025 and granted time to the petitioner to provide the required information. 9.

In response, the petitioner submitted its reply dated 24.11.2025, which reads as under:- The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

10.

The said reply led to passing of the impugned Order dated 15.01.2026 which reads as under:- The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

11.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

12.

Hence, the present petition.

13.

Mr. Biswas, learned counsel for the respondent, relies on paragraph Nos. 10 and 11 of the impugned Order, reproduced above, to state that the petitioner did not supply the requisite documents and gave incomplete information which lead to passing of the disaffiliation Order. He states that from the documents it was apparent that the petitioner School was sponsoring students from St. Paul's International School as the said school had been disaffiliated and the students were shown admitted in the petitioner School to permit them to carry on with their examination and the said school was deriving the benefits. Additionally, it is stated that the management of the petitioner School and St. Paul's International School are related. 14.

I have heard learned counsel for the parties. 15.

In the present case, the impugned Order in paragraph Nos. 14 and 15, The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

reproduced above, only shows that the respondent authority has examined the document and replies of the petitioner School and found them to be not satisfactory, inconclusive and deficient.

16.

Additionally, it is stated that the petitioner School has breached the CISCE rules of affiliation and hence the petitioner School was disaffiliated. 17.

I am of the view that the respondent is a Board and disaffiliating a school has serious consequences.

18.

No doubt it is within the exclusive domain of the respondent to grant affiliation/disaffiliation but the principles of natural justice require that the response submitted by the petitioner School must be considered, analysed and a detailed speaking order needs to be passed. Merely stating that the document provided by the petitioner School were found to be "not satisfactory, inconclusive and deficient", is not sufficient and definitely, not substitution to a speaking and reasoned order. 19.

The Principles of Natural Justice contemplates that the aggrieved party must be given fullest opportunity to present its case before an adverse order is passed against the party. The Principles of Natural Justice have to be read in a meaningful and a comprehensive manner. 20.

Merely stating that the documents were inconclusive/genuineness not established, is to my mind, cryptic and cannot be by any stretch construed as a speaking order. The order required to detail which documents were inconclusive and which documents were considered not genuine and for what reasons.

21.

For the said reasons, the petition is allowed and the impugned Order dated 15.01.2026 is consequently set aside and consequential benefits shall ensue.

The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.

22.

The petition only challenges the Order dated 15.01.2026, which has been now set aside and nothing prevents the respondent from proceeding in accordance with law.

23.

With these directions, the present petition is disposed of, along with pending applications, if any.

JASMEET SINGH, J MARCH 17, 2026/AS The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above.