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| Entrance exam paper, answer key should be disclosed: CIC | | |
New Delhi, Jan 04: The question paper for any previous entrance examination and its answer key can now be sought under the RTI Act, CIC has ordered, reversing its previous directive which exempted disclosure of such information citing "larger public interest".
Hearing the case of an RTI applicant who sought the question paper of BHU for the PG (MD/MS) medical entrance examination 2008 along with its answer key, Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said there could be no "sanction of law" for the denial of this information.
Applicant Mangla Ram Jat was denied information by the University saying that disclosure of the same was not favourable in larger public interest.
Declining the request, the University also quoted a previous decision of Central Information Commission wherein AIIMS' denial to disclose similar information to an RTI applicant was upheld.
In a strongly worded decision, Gandhi said that the order of CIC in the AIIMS case, was 'per incuriam' (lack of regard for law or facts) and did not consider the statutory provisions of the Act and should not be taken as a precedent.
"The Commission is of the view that the aforesaid appeal was decided citing argument of 'public interest' which is not an exemption under the Act," he said.
"The commission cannot of its own impose exemptions and substitute their own views for those of Parliament.... There is absolutely no ambiguity in the Act and tinkering with it in the name of larger public interest is beyond the adjudicating authorities and will go against the spirit of the Act." "This Commission... is of the view that nothing in the Act envisages denial of information on the grounds that the information will not be able to protect any larger public interest," Gandhi ordered.
The Information Commissioner said even exemptions under RTI Act are subject to larger public interest as mentioned in section 8 (2) which reads: "Not withstanding any of the exemptions permissible in accordance with subsection 1, a public authority may allow access to information if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to protected interests."
The concept of public interest cannot be invoked for denial of information, he said.
"The section empowers the public information officer to provide the exempted information if it is in the larger public interest; meaning thereby that access to the exempted information can be allowed if public interest is served in providing the information," he said.
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