Can show PM’s degree to court, but not to strangers, DU tells HC
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta said he does not “trust the motive and intentions” of those seeking information on PM Modi's DU degree.
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Six petitions are currently pending before the Delhi High Court. (Express File Photo)The Delhi High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict in a bunch of pleas pertaining to the disclosure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree from the Delhi University (DU).
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, representing DU, continued to oppose the disclosure of such information, telling Justice Sachin Datta that he does not “trust the motive and intentions” of the information-seekers while clarifying that he has “no reservation” in showing the degree to the court, “but will not expose it to the scrutiny of strangers”.
“… in principle, such information cannot be sought. This is not the object for which the RTI (Right to Information Act) has been envisioned… The authority will have to decide what is your interest, you are trying to use it for political purposes… We have i,t but we will not share… there are quite a few free people in this world who will seek one information or another,” Mehta argued.
Mehta had earlier told Justice Datta that a university keeps students’ degrees and marksheets in a fiduciary relationship and degree “is personal information for a student”.
While reserving its verdict, the court permitted the parties to file written submissions within a week.
In 2017, in a plea moved before the HC, DU had challenged an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC), which had directed the inspection of records of students who passed the BA programme from the varsity in 1978, the year when Modi graduated from the university with a bachelor’s degree. The CIC order had come in relation to an RTI application.
In all, the HC is hearing six petitions, which include four filed by DU, challenging the December 2016 order of the CIC.
Among the four petitions filed by DU, one also challenges a CIC order of December 2016, whereby it had directed the university to recover Rs 25,000 from the salary payable to the Central Public Information Officer in five equal monthly installments for rejecting an RTI application, as the fee for the same was not paid.
DU’s pleas have been filed against the various RTI applicants — Neeraj Kumar, Mohd Irsad, R K Jain, and others.
The fifth petition has been filed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) against one Mohd Nashadudin and others, where the Board has challenged a January 2017 order of the CIC to facilitate inspection of records and provide certified copies of the documents selected free of cost, except personal details in admit card and marksheet. Nashadudin had sought copies of the admit card and marksheet of Modi in an RTI application moved in 2015.
The sixth petition has been filed by Delhi-based lawyer Mohd Irsad, challenging the rejection of his RTI application seeking information about Modi’s degree.
The application was rejected on the ground of non-payment of the RTI fee to the authority concerned at the appropriate time.
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