The Hindu: Mumbai: Saturday, December 02, 2017.
The Mumbai
University (MU) will have to provide photocopies of answer sheets to students
within 30 days of application, or explain if the answer sheet is missing. And
if it refuses to respond, students can apply under the Right to Information
Act, says student-activist Akash Vedak.
“The
university can no longer just ignore an application for a photocopy of an
answer sheet,” said Mr. Vedak, a recent graduate, who last week acquired a
photocopy from MU under the RTI Act after a long fight. Also, unlike the fee of
₹50 for a photocopy it usually charges, MU may have to charge just ₹2 per page
as ordered by the Supreme Court.
The
university had initially rejected Mr. Vedak’s RTI application for a photocopy,
and asked him to apply under university rules.
Mr. Vedak,
however, appealed against the rejection by citing a 2011 Supreme Court order,
about which he had read in The Hindu. An August, 19, 2016, newspaper report
quoted SC as stating that students’ access to their answer sheets was their
“fundamental and legitimate right.”
Mr. Vedak
attached a copy of news report to his application to support his case. “This is
a huge precedent for students as citing the Supreme Court order worked in my
favour. If MU says it has misplaced answer sheets, the student can sue the
university and even claim damages for it,” he said.
The MU has
misplaced thousands of answer books this academic year.
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