Times of
India: Chennai: Tuesday, June 04, 2019.
Can
a college student access her answer scripts by filing an RTI application that
costs only ₹10 or does she have to pay the exorbitant fee set by the
university?
The
Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (TNSIC) settled the matter with an
order that TN Dr Ambedkar Law University must give the answer scripts to the
student under RTI. Only that the university has refused to do so.
The
order, delivered while hearing a second appeal filed by student Pavan Gandhi,
quoted the Supreme Court judgement in the CBSE vs Aditya Bandopadhyay case. The
order copy was delivered to the university and Gandhi in March 2019. Three
months later, however, Gandhi is yet to get copies of his answer scripts. He
had filed the original RTI with the university in December 2017.
The
university’s public information officer refused to oblige, asking him to submit
an application form for obtaining a photocopy of the answer sheets and pay ₹500
per paper. This was to be paid to the officer of the controller of examinations
of the university.
Gandhi
challenged it before the commission and got an order in his favour, but the
university could not care less. When contacted, university vice-chancellor T S
N Sastry told TOI that he would look into the issue. He got back saying that
the section officer concerned had dispatched the answer scripts to the student
on Monday evening. “These are administrative matter that take time,” he said.
The
controller of the university told TOI that it took time to process as the
answer papers were of an exam held more than a year ago.
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