The Delhi High Court on Monday quashed the Central Information Commission’s order directing making public the information related to PM Narendra Modi’s graduation degree.
प्रधान मंत्री मोदी की डिग्री नहीं होगी सार्वजनिक, दिल्ली हाईकोर्ट ने CIC का आदेश किया रद्द
The Delhi High Court has quashed the order of the Central Information Commission (CIC), which directed Delhi University (DU) to disclose information regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s graduation degree. That is, it has become clear that PM Narendra Modi’s degree will not be made public.
DU had filed a petition in 2017 against the order of the Central Information Commission which allowed the verification of the records of students who passed the BA program in 1978, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also passed this exam. This order was stayed on the first hearing day on January 24 in 2017.
What happened during the hearing?
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the university, argued that the controversial order passed by the Central Information Commission is worthy of cancellation. He said that he has no objection in showing the record to the court. He told that there is a ‘Bachelor of Arts’ degree of 1978.
The Solicitor General further said that the university has no objection in showing the degrees to the court but it cannot put the records up for scrutiny by ‘strangers’. He also argued that it is not enough to approach the Right to Information (RTI) forums out of mere curiosity.
On the other hand, senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for RTI applicant Neeraj, argued that the information sought in this case is normally published by any university and was earlier published on the notice board, university website and even in newspapers.
He also opposed Solicitor General Mehta’s argument that the information of students is kept by the university in a “fiduciary capacity” and it cannot be disclosed to ‘any stranger’ as it is exempted from disclosure in the law.
What is the whole matter?
Actually, RTI activist Neeraj Kumar had filed an RTI application seeking information about the results of all the students who appeared in BA in 1978, their roll numbers, names, marks and pass or fail results. The Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of DU refused to share the information on the ground that it was “third party information”. Following this, the RTI activist filed an appeal before the Central Information Commission (CIC).
The CIC, in its order passed in 2016, said: “After examining the case, relevant laws and previous judgments, the Commission has held that matters relating to education of any student (present/former) fall in the public domain and hence disclosure of information to the concerned public authority is warranted. The CIC had said that every university is a public body and all information relating to degrees is available in the private register of the university, which is a public document.
Delhi University had argued during the first hearing in the high court in 2017 that it had no problem in providing the information sought about the total number of students who appeared, passed or failed the examination. However, on a prayer seeking details of results of all students, including roll number, name, father’s name and marks, the university argued that such information is exempt from disclosure. It argued that it contains personal information of all students enrolled in BA in 1978, and that the information is held in fiduciary capacity.
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