Allow Inspection Of Answer-Sheets Under RTI, High Court Tells Delhi University

In what could be a big relief to students seeking inspection of their answer-sheets through RTI, the Delhi High Court has ordered the Delhi University to allow the inspection of answer-sheet to a former student under RTI by refusing to stay the CIC order against which the varsity had approached the court.

The high court in an order issued on September 24 refused to grant the stay asked for by the university against a Central Information Commission (CIC) order, according to which it was to allow the inspection of the answer-sheet to a student who had sought it under an RTI provision.

The order, in effect, paves the way for a number of such students who may have chosen the RTI route for checking their copies instead of paying a fee to the university.

"It is clarified that this court has not stayed the impugned order dated June 18, 2018 (the CIC order) and inspection of the evaluated answer-sheet shall be provided... as directed.

"The question whether a student has any right to seek inspection of his/her answer-sheets will be considered on the next date," the court said in its order.

A former law student of the university had sought the inspection of his answer-sheets through an RTI in 2016, but the matter dragged on for two years, forcing him to approach the intervention of the CIC.

The CIC adjudicated in favour of the student, ordering the Delhi University to allow him the inspection of his answer copy -- as prescribed under Section 2(j) of the Right to Information Act -- in "larger public interest" .

The Delhi University, which under the current system charges a fee -- Rs 1,000 for revaluation of a single copy and Rs 750 for its rechecking -- from the students, challenged the CIC order in the court and asked for a stay on it, contending that allowing the inspection under RTI "would render their existing mechanism of providing hard copies...redundant".

The final hearing on the matter is reserved for January 30 next year.

IANS had earlier reported that the Delhi University earned over Rs 3 crore in fees paid by students for either revaluation or rechecking their answer-sheets and for providing photocopies of answer-sheets to them between 2015-16 and 2017-18.

According to the information provided by the university under RTI, it earned Rs 2,89,12,310 for revaluation alone between 2015-16 and 2017-18.

During the same period, it earned Rs 23,29,500 for rechecking and Rs 6,49,500 for providing students copies of answer-scripts evaluated.