Sunday, August 14, 2011

Time limit for answer sheet scrutiny:SC

Deccan Herald: New Delhi:Shobhan SaxenaSunday 14 August 2011.
Any candidate can access answer sheets from the examination board under the RTI Act but only within a certain time limit, the Supreme Court has said.
In a landmark verdict, a bench of Justices R V Raveendran and A K Patnaik ruled that examination boards like the CBSE are bound to disclose answer sheets to students under the transparency law but added that such obligation does not will not stand beyond a time limit as decided in rules.
The apex court also said that the Right to Information Act is a “formidable” tool in the hands of citizens but it should not be allowed to be misused to intimidate honest officials or to obstruct national development.
“The right to access information does not extend beyond the period during which the examining body is expected to retain the answer books. In the case of CBSE, the answer books are required to be maintained for a period of three months and thereafter they are liable to be disposed of/destroyed. Some other examining bodies are required to keep the answer books for a period of six months,” the bench said.
“The fact that right to information is available in regard to answer books does not mean that answer-books will have to be maintained for any longer period than required under the rules and regulations of the public authority,” the court said, dismissing appeals filed against a Calcutta HC order.
In the judgment, the bench also stressed at the need for enforcing the provisions of RTI Act “strictly” to bring to light the necessary information in order to secure transparency and accountability in the working of public authorities and in discouraging corruption.