The Delhi High Court on Friday quashed the Central Information Commission's (CIC) 2016 order directing Delhi University to allow inspection of records of all students who cleared the BA exam in 1978, the year Prime Minister Narendra Modi graduated from the institution.
The Delhi High Court bench of Justice Sachin Datta announced the judgment on Monday, ruling in favour of the university's plea challenging the CIC directive.
Earlier, the judgment was to be pronounced on 20 August; however, it was deferred due to the non-availability of the judge, who was sitting in the UAPA Tribunal and not holding regular court.
Durign the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Delhi University, submitted that the CIC directive should be overturned because the “right to privacy" superseded the “right to know". However, Mehta stated that while the university was prepared to present Modi's academic records to the court, it could not reveal such information for "examination by outsiders" under RTI provisions.
An RTI request submitted by an individual named Neeraj prompted the Central Information Commission to grant access on 21 December 2016 to examination records of all candidates who successfully completed their BA degree in 1978, the same year the Prime Minister obtained his qualification. The high court imposed a stay on this CIC directive on 23 January 2017.
Delhi University contested the commission's order, maintaining that it possessed student information in a confidential capacity and that "simple inquisitiveness" without demonstrable public benefit did not justify anyone's entitlement to access private details through RTI legislation.
Previously, legal representatives for the RTI petitioners had supported the CIC's ruling, asserting that the Right to Information Act mandated the disclosure of the prime minister's academic credentials for the broader public interest.
