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Delhi HC Tells DU to File Objections on Late Appeals in PM Degree RTI Case

The bench will examine whether to condone the delay before any hearing on the merits of challenges to a ruling that treated university records as personal data.

Overview

  • A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice T.R. Gedela granted Delhi University three weeks to object to condonation pleas, with appellants given two more weeks to reply.
  • The matter is listed for further hearing on January 16, 2026, and the court did not issue notice after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he would appear and file a reply.
  • Appeals were filed by RTI activist Neeraj Kumar, AAP MP Sanjay Singh and advocate Mohd Irshad challenging the single-judge order that quashed a 2016 CIC disclosure directive.
  • The August 25, 2024 single-judge ruling held that degrees and marks are personal information under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act and emphasized a fiduciary relationship between student and university.
  • The underlying RTI sought inspection of DU’s 1978 BA records, which the CIC had deemed public in 2016 before DU’s challenge led to the current court proceedings.