The Tribune: New Delhi: Thursday, March 01, 2018.
The Delhi
University (DU) on Wednesday submitted before the Delhi High Court that the
varsity's BA exam records of all its students of 1978 is held in a fiduciary
capacity and cannot be disclosed under RTI.
The
submission has been made by the DU in an affidavit which the court has not
taken on record as it had earlier closed the varsity's right to file further
replies in the matter.
The affidavit
was filed by the varsity in its plea challenging a Central Information
Commission (CIC) direction to allow inspection of the university's records of
all students who had passed BA examination in 1978.
The CIC had
directed the DU to allow inspection of records related to all the students who
had passed BA degree in 1978, the year in which, according to the University,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also cleared the examination.
The CIC had
rejected the contention of the Central Public Information Officer of the
University that it was a third party personal information, saying it finds
“neither merit, nor legality” in it.
The court had
on January 23 last year put on hold the operation of the CIC order.
During the
hearing today, Justice Rajiv Shakdher said DU will have to first seek recall of
the court's earlier order closing its right to file a reply and thereafter, its
submission may be taken on record.
The court
also sought DU's response on an application filed by persons, claiming to be
experts in relation to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking to be a part
of the proceedings.
With the
direction, the court listed the matter for further hearing on May 22.
Additional
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for DU, opposed the plea of the RTI
activists seeking to be part of the matter, saying they have "vested
interests".
In the
affidavit filed through central government standing counsel Arun Bhardwaj, DU
has said that the result of a student once declared is accessible only to that
student and is "personal" to her or him.
The varsity
has also said disclosure of exam results of all the students could lead to
"public embarrassment" of some or may cause "disturbance" of
his/her routine life.
It has also
said a separate mechanism available for other institutions which want to verify
the results or degrees of a student who has passed out from DU.