New Delhi: On Monday, the Delhi High Court made a big decision that overturned an eight-year-old ruling from the Central details Commission (CIC) that instructed Delhi University to give up details about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bachelor’s degree. DU filed a petition with the court to appeal the CIC’s order on the basis of student privacy.
The fight in court started in 2016 with an RTI request for the academic records of all students who graduated from Delhi University with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1978, the same year that PM Modi’s election papers say he graduated. The university turned down the request, saying it was against the rules for third-party information. However, the CIC said that the educational qualifications of a public figure, especially the Prime Minister, were a matter of public interest and that the university’s register should be seen as a public document.
Tushar Mehta, the Solicitor General of India, spoke for Delhi University and said that the right to privacy of thousands of students was more important than the right of the public to know. He said that making this kind of information public would set a bad example and may be done for “political reasons.” Mehta also said he would give the court the record to look at in private, but he argued that it should not be made public.
The High Court agreed with DU’s points in its decision. Justice Sachin Datta, who issued the ruling, found that academic records, including degrees and marks, are “personal information” and are protected under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act. The court made a distinction between “something that is of interest to the public” and “something that is in the public interest.” It decided that there was no strong public interest in this case that would have overridden the right to privacy. The decision also said that just because someone is in a public office doesn’t mean that all of their personal information has to be made public.
Some people have called the verdict a win for the right to privacy and a clearer explanation of the RTI Act’s boundaries. However, those who wanted the information, who may yet appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, have said that the educational qualifications of a Prime Minister are very important to the public and should be made clear.