The Delhi High Court has overturned a CIC order to disclose details of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 1978 BA degree from Delhi University, citing a lack of ‘implicit public interest’
The Delhi High Court on Monday set aside a Central Information Commission’s (CIC) order that ordered disclosure of marks and other details of BA graduates of Delhi University from 1978, the year Prime Minister Modi passed.
Questioning the non-disclosure of details, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X, “It is simply incomprehensible why the educational degree details of this particular PM should be kept a complete secret when such details of everyone else have always been and continue to be public.”
Ramesh charged that the RTI query on PM Modi’s educational qualification led to amendments in the Act. “This incidentally was the reason why amendments to the RTI Act, 2005, were bulldozed through Parliament six years ago in the face of our determined opposition,” Ramesh charged.
Setting aside the CIC’s order, the Delhi High Court observed that the petition seeking details of Modi’s bachelor’s degree awarded by the Delhi University lacked “implicit public interest”. The bench observed educational qualifications were not a “statutory requirement for holding any public office or discharging official responsibilities”.
“The fact that the information sought pertains to a public figure does not extinguish privacy/confidentiality rights over personal data, unconnected with public duties,” the Court said.
The matter stems from a Right To Information (RTI) plea moved by an activist named Neeraj Kumar in December 2016. Kumar sought the results of all the students who appeared in BA in 1978, along with their roll number, name, marks and result, pass or fail. However, the information officer at DU refused to reply to the query, citing that they were “personal information”.
The petitioner later approached CIC, which held that the university is a public body and that all degree-related information is available in the varsity’s private register, which is a public document.
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