The Delhi High Court will hear a plea related to disclosure of details of Delhi University’s records of the students who had passed the Bachelor of Arts course in 1978, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also cleared the exam, under the RTI Act for May 3, 2023.
Justice Yashwant Varma, in the order passed on November 15, said that no one appeared for DU and adjourned hearing in the matter.
The High Court was hearing a petition by the DU, challenging a Central Information Commission (CIC) December 21, 2016 order allowing RTI activist Neeraj to inspect records of the students who had passed Bachelor of Arts in 1978 from DU.
The High Court stayed the CIC’s order on January 23, 2017.
The university had contended that the CIC’s order was passed in “unexplainable haste” as the information sought is “third party personal information”.
It had said that the information sought under the transparency law contains personal information of all students who had appeared in Bachelor of Arts in the year 1978 and since such information is held in fiduciary capacity, it was exempt from disclosure.
The CIC, in its order, had asked the DU to allow inspection while rejecting contention of its Central Public Information Officer that it was third party personal information.
It had directed the university “to facilitate inspection of relevant register where complete information about result of all students who passed in Bachelor of Arts in year 1978 along with roll number, names of the students, fathers’ name and marks obtained as available with the university and provide certified copy of the extract of relevant pages from the register, free of cost”.
