Moneylife: Pune: Friday, 19 September 2025.
Ganesh Chavan, a
third-year law student of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), who had
sought access to his fourth semester marks ledger through the Right to
Information (RTI) Act but was denied the same by the university’s public
information officer (PIO), is now victorious with the overturning of the
denial, due to the appellate authority and registrar of SPPU directing the
examination department to provide him the information.
As a result, an ecstatic Mr Chavan states that “the marks ledger of each student of the third year of his law college (including his) has been promptly posted on the official WhatsApp group comprising the third-year students, faculty and the principal.’’
However, Mr Chavan termed this a temporary relief as the accessibility of the information is confined only to this semester. So, he is filing a second appeal with the information commissioner, Pune, appealing for a general order for all semesters and for all students of the SPPU, across all academic courses.
At the hearing on 27 August 2025, the appellate authority, Dr Jyoti S Bhakare, noted that while the PIO invoked confidentiality as grounds for denial, Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act provides exemptions only for personal information unrelated to any public interest. She observed that “in this case, the marks pertain to a collective academic performance of a class in which the appellant is also enrolled, and hence cannot be treated as purely personal information.”
Ruling in favour of Mr Chavan, Dr Bhakare had directed the deputy registrar of the examination, evaluation and certification department to provide the requested information within 15 days (which has already been shared by his college at the direction of the registrar). She further instructed the university to ensure timely compliance by furnishing certified copies of the marks, while the PIO has been cautioned against such delays and refusals in future RTI cases. She has also ordered a compliance report on the execution of the order.
It may be recalled that Moneylife broke the story, wherein Mr Chavan’s RTI application on 25 June 2025, seeking certified copies of the fourth semester marks of himself and his batch mates, was denied by the PIO of the university.
After this denial, Mr Chavan filed another RTI application seeking his own individual marks ledger but the PIO contended that marks ledgers are printed in multiple names, hence his individual marks cannot be severed from the sheet. However, thanks to FAA Bhakare, Mr Chavan has got immense relief.
For the background of his RTI battle, Mr Chavan, after the declaration of his third-semester results on 2nd January, had approached the college authorities in mid-February seeking a copy of the marks ledger. To his surprise, he was informed that the document could not be shared with him. Shocked that his own academic performance was being treated as ‘confidential’, he filed an RTI application with SPPU on 21st February. However, all is well that ends well and now he is fighting through RTI for a bigger cause of the marks ledger being available to all students of SPPU.
As a result, an ecstatic Mr Chavan states that “the marks ledger of each student of the third year of his law college (including his) has been promptly posted on the official WhatsApp group comprising the third-year students, faculty and the principal.’’
However, Mr Chavan termed this a temporary relief as the accessibility of the information is confined only to this semester. So, he is filing a second appeal with the information commissioner, Pune, appealing for a general order for all semesters and for all students of the SPPU, across all academic courses.
At the hearing on 27 August 2025, the appellate authority, Dr Jyoti S Bhakare, noted that while the PIO invoked confidentiality as grounds for denial, Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act provides exemptions only for personal information unrelated to any public interest. She observed that “in this case, the marks pertain to a collective academic performance of a class in which the appellant is also enrolled, and hence cannot be treated as purely personal information.”
Ruling in favour of Mr Chavan, Dr Bhakare had directed the deputy registrar of the examination, evaluation and certification department to provide the requested information within 15 days (which has already been shared by his college at the direction of the registrar). She further instructed the university to ensure timely compliance by furnishing certified copies of the marks, while the PIO has been cautioned against such delays and refusals in future RTI cases. She has also ordered a compliance report on the execution of the order.
It may be recalled that Moneylife broke the story, wherein Mr Chavan’s RTI application on 25 June 2025, seeking certified copies of the fourth semester marks of himself and his batch mates, was denied by the PIO of the university.
After this denial, Mr Chavan filed another RTI application seeking his own individual marks ledger but the PIO contended that marks ledgers are printed in multiple names, hence his individual marks cannot be severed from the sheet. However, thanks to FAA Bhakare, Mr Chavan has got immense relief.
For the background of his RTI battle, Mr Chavan, after the declaration of his third-semester results on 2nd January, had approached the college authorities in mid-February seeking a copy of the marks ledger. To his surprise, he was informed that the document could not be shared with him. Shocked that his own academic performance was being treated as ‘confidential’, he filed an RTI application with SPPU on 21st February. However, all is well that ends well and now he is fighting through RTI for a bigger cause of the marks ledger being available to all students of SPPU.
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