Reversal News Desk,
The controversy over Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s university degree is quite old. Even the then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was fined in 2023 for asking for information about Modi’s university degree.
Now Delhi University has opened up about this controversy. The university says that the aim of the Right to Information Act – RTI Act cannot be to satisfy someone’s curiosity alone. Delhi University said this on Monday (January 13) in the Narendra Modi degree controversy.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the university, told the Delhi High Court that the purpose of the RTI Act is to provide information. However, the Solicitor General said that the purpose of the Act is not to satisfy anyone’s personal curiosity.
Indian media reports say that in the wake of the RTI in the Modi degree controversy, the Central Information Commission ordered the disclosure of degree-related information. Based on the application of an RTI activist, the Commission asked to disclose the information of all students who passed in the relevant academic year. The university authorities approached the Delhi High Court challenging that order.
Mehta told the bench of High Court Justice Sachin Dutt that the information of students is kept with the university out of a place of trust. It cannot be disclosed to any stranger under the law.
The Solicitor General said that the information sought has nothing to do with transparency or accountability. He also believes that the RTI Act is being misused by ordering the disclosure of information.
Incidentally, the case over Modi’s degree controversy has been going on in the Delhi High Court for a long time. According to a report by legal news website ‘Live Law’, RTI activist Neeraj Kumar initially sought information from Delhi University about the names, roll numbers and marks obtained by all the students who graduated in 1978. He also wanted to know who passed and who failed. However, the university informed that third-party information cannot be given in this way. Then the RTI activist filed an application with the Central Information Commission. Based on this, the commission ordered the information to be made public in 2016.
The university authorities approached the court in 2017, challenging the commission’s order. At that time, the commission had ordered the university to examine the records of students who passed the 1978 Bachelor of Arts degree. Incidentally, Modi also graduated in the same year. The court issued a stay on the commission’s order in the first hearing of the case on January 24, 2017.
On Monday, Mehta, representing the university, told the court that if allowed by law, anyone can ask the university for information related to their degree or mark sheet. But the RTI Act does not allow disclosure of such information to any third party. In that case, the commission’s order is against the law, according to the Solicitor General.
He said, “That RTI worker has asked for information about everyone (who passed) in 1978. Then someone can come and ask for information about 1979. Then someone can come and ask for information about 1964.”
