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Informist, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court on Monday set aside a Central Information Commissioner's 2016 order directing the University of Delhi to disclose information about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bachelors of Arts degree. "CIC's (Central Information Commission's) order is set aside," said Justice Sachin Dutta. 

 

Justice Sachin Datta says the marksheets/results/degree certificate/academic records of any individual, even if that individual is a holder of public office, are in the nature of personal information. "The fact that a person holds a public office does not, per se, render all personal information subject to public disclosure," said the court.

 

The case has its genesis in Neeraj Sharma, an applicant, seeking records of students who had cleared the Bachelor of Arts course from the University of Delhi in 1978, the year in which the current prime minister was said to have graduated. However, the university had not given the details to Sharma.

 

The issue was highlighted as former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in 2016 asked Prime Minister Modi to come clean about his educational degrees and make them public. In an election affidavit, the prime minister had sworn that he graduated from the University of Delhi in 1978 with the Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. 

 

University of Delhi, in its appeal to the high court, had argued that the information sought by the applicant contained personal information of all students who had appeared in Bachelor of Arts in 1978 and that the information of students was held in fiduciary capacity, and the same was exempt from disclosure. Even if the said information was held to be, not held in fiduciary capacity, disclosure of personal information could only be directed after compliance of provisions of Sections 8(1)(j) and Section 11 of the Right to Information Act, which require issuance of a notice and provision of an opportunity of hearing to the concerned individual, vis-a-vis, whom the information is sought, said the university.

 

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the university, had argued that personal information cannot be sought under the 2005 Act. "Somebody has passed out in 1978. It is not related to his public duty, you are wanting to use it for political purposes," said Mehta. He argued that the 2005 Act cannot be used to intimidate officers. "Public authorities will not be able to exercise their purpose if such applications are entertained. People would be searching old documents, and would be bogged down. The RTI Act cannot be used as a tool to intimidate officers doing their duty," said Mehta.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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