CBSE is already complying with Right to Information Act rules for charging fee for photocopies of answer sheets, said Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in a statement. The Board has also clarified that "the media reports have been mis-representing facts and publishing news" following a latest Supreme Court ruling on its position in regard to charging fees for photocopies of answer sheets under RTI rules.
"It is therefore pertinent to clarify that CBSE is already complying with RTI rules for charging fee for photocopies of answer sheets," the Board statement said.
The Supreme Court on October 29, 2018 said while disposing of a contempt plea against the CBSE, "it is stated that for furnishing photocopies of the answer-sheets fee as per the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005 and Rules is being charged whereas if re-verification/re-valuation/re-totalling/re-checking of the answersheets/scripts along with the photocopies thereof is sought fee as per the CBSE Regulations is charged".
A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph accepted the submissions of senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE), that the apex court order was being followed.
The contempt plea had alleged that the CBSE has willfully and deliberately disobeyed the directions of the apex court, which had in 2016 said that the board should 'scrupulously' follow its 2011 verdict holding that the students have the fundamental and legal right to access their evaluated answer-sheets under the Right to Information Act.
"Re-evaluation/re/totalling of marks" is separate process
In its clarification, the Board has also said that, as the RTI Act does not stipulate re-evaluation/re/totalling of marks, the candidates who desire to have their answer sheets re-evaluated or their marks re-totalled have to go through a separate procedure which requires them to pay the fee as prescribed by the CBSE.
"Candidates who seek copies of answer sheets, under RTI Act are charged Rs. 2 per page and Rs. 10 as application fee mandated in the RTI Act. These are two separate processes and the board does not interlink them," the statement said.
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