New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has overturned a Central Information Commission (CIC) order directing Delhi University (DU) to disclose details of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bachelor’s degree. Justice Sachin Datta delivered the verdict on Monday, while the detailed judgment is awaited.
The matter originated in 2016 when the CIC had permitted inspection of records of students who passed the BA programme in 1978, the year the Prime Minister reportedly graduated. DU challenged the directive in 2017, and the High Court stayed it on the very first day of hearing.
During the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing DU, argued that the CIC’s order was unsustainable. He stated that while the university had no objection to presenting the degree before the court, it could not allow outsiders to inspect student records. “There is indeed a BA degree from 1978, but that does not mean the records can be thrown open to strangers,” he submitted, asserting that curiosity alone cannot trigger the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for RTI applicant Neeraj Kumar, countered that the request was neither unusual nor invasive. He pointed out that universities traditionally published results openly on notice boards, websites, and even in newspapers. He also argued that educational records were inherently public and disclosure would not breach fiduciary obligations.
Kumar had sought the names, roll numbers, marks, and results of all students who appeared for the BA programme in 1978 through an RTI application. DU’s Central Public Information Officer rejected the plea, terming it “third-party information.” The CIC later ruled in 2016 that university degree records were public documents and should be disclosed under RTI.
However, before the High Court, DU maintained that while it could share the number of students who passed or failed, releasing the full list with personal details would violate the privacy of the 1978 batch. The university argued that such information was protected under the fiduciary clause of the RTI Act.
