Calcutta, July 18: A girl who scored 95 in mathematics and 92 in physical science in her secondary examination had moved high court saying she could not have got 33 in life science.

Ketaki Dewasi was right. She had got 83 in the paper, but a mistake by the Madhyamik board on the mark sheet that its counsel described as “minor” could have cost the Burdwan girl her future.

Her total of 667 out of 900 and the poor marks in life science ensured that she did not get a berth in a school of repute for her higher secondary.

“See, how callousness on the part of the examination-conducting authorities can destroy the future of an innocent student,” Justice Jayanta Biswas said today.

The judge asked the board to issue a fresh mark sheet to the student of Seherbazar Radharani Balika Vidyalaya within 24 hours. There is hope still that the schoolteacher’s daughter might get admitted to an institution of her choice. Board president Ujwal Basu said if Ketaki approaches him, he would personally see to it that she gets the opportunity.

Ketaki’s lawyer Sanat Kumar Roy said Justice Biswas made an exception for her in asking the board to produce her paper in court.

In 2003, nearly a hundred answer scripts were produced before the high court and in at least 20 cases, the marks of Madhyamik and HS candidates were raised. But no such directive was issued this year, though about 150 students approached the court.

The board’s counsel, Tulshi Maity, produced Ketaki’s answer script in the court today and admitted fault on the part of the board.

“There is a minor fault on the part of my client. There was a mistake when the marks were entered on the mark sheet,” he said.

“The minor fault can change the career of a student. Just imagine what trouble the petitioner has to face for no fault of hers,” Justice Biswas said.

The board president said it was a “human error”.

Basu also suggested that she should have applied for post-publication scrutiny instead of going to the court, but he would know that the process takes several months to be completed.

“We shall send the (corrected) mark sheet to the student by July 20 following the court order,” he added.

In 2003, the court had said that the Madhyamik board and the HS council should make the publication of results “more transparent”.