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Delhi High Court Quashes CIC Order on DU’s 1978 Records, Bars RTI Disclosure of Modi BA Details

The court found DU holds student records in confidence, shielding the 1978 register from RTI disclosure.

The court said that the CIC's directive to the private school over the concerned public functionary's records was completely de-hors the provisions of the RTI Act.
As per Justice Sachin Datta's order from HC, there need not be any disclosure of the academic record and degree
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Overview

  • Justice Sachin Datta on August 25 set aside the Central Information Commission’s 2016 directive that had allowed inspection of Delhi University’s BA records for 1978, the year Narendra Modi graduated.
  • The judgment holds that degrees, marks and results constitute personal information under RTI Section 8(1)(j), and that universities maintain such data in a fiduciary capacity protected by Section 8(1)(e).
  • Delhi University, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, argued that privacy outweighs the right to know and said it can show the records to the court but not open them to public inspection.
  • The CIC had treated the university’s degree register as a public document and ordered inspection and certified extracts; the High Court had stayed that order in 2017, and an appeal to the Supreme Court remains possible.
  • In a related matter, the court also set aside a CIC order seeking CBSE confirmation of Smriti Irani’s school exam records, as opposition leaders criticized the Modi ruling and pressed for greater transparency.