Delhi University will not have to share Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree or the academic record of that year, the Delhi High Court has ruled.
The court on Monday set aside the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) order from about eight years ago that said PM Modi’s degree details be shared in response to a Right to Information (RTI) plea. The university had challenged the CIC’s order, citing privacy concerns, on which the HC has now ruled.
The RTI applicant had sought the academic records of all students of the Bachelor of Arts (BA) course from Delhi University (DU) in 1978, the year in which PM Modi graduated as per his election submissions.
The matter may reach the Supreme Court upon appeal next.
This legal battle has been on for nearly a decade. It started with a 2016 RTI application, which the university denied by citing rules against sharing information related to a third party. The Central Information Commission (CIC), however, did not buy this logic and ordered that DU permit the inspection of records.
The CIC said educational qualifications of a public figure, especially the PM, must be transparent. It also held that the register containing this information be considered a public document.
As the university went to the high court, it was represented by Tushar Mehta, the Solicitor General of India, and its legal team. DU argued that the right to privacy of thousands of students outweighed the public’s right to information.
Mehta also argued that releasing the data would set a dangerous precedent, potentially affecting the functioning of public authorities.
He asserted, though, that the university would be ready to present the record to the court for its perusal, but not to be made public. His arguments included that individuals who wanted the record were “seeking publicity or driven by political motives” .
But the activists seeking the record contended that the transpareny law does not consider the identity or intent of the applicant. A degree is a qualification granted by the state and is not a private matter, they argued, adding that the PM’s educational qualifications are a matter of significant public interest.
The high court reserved its judgment on February 27, which it delivered on Monday, August 25.