Delhi High Court Scraps CIC Order Seeking PM Modi’s Degree Details, Cites Privacy
The Delhi High Court on Monday set aside a nearly nine-year-old order from the Central Information Commission (CIC) that had directed Delhi University to disclose details related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bachelor’s degree. The ruling by Justice Sachin Datta brings a long-standing controversy to a close, prioritizing the “right to privacy” over the “right to know” in this case.
The legal battle dates back to a December 2016 order by the CIC, which, following an RTI application, had instructed Delhi University to allow the inspection of records of all students who completed their BA degree in 1978, the same year the Prime Minister is said to have graduated. The High Court had put a stay on this order in January 2017.
During the hearings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing Delhi University, argued forcefully that the university holds student information in a “fiduciary capacity” and cannot disclose it merely to satisfy “curiosity” in the absence of a larger public interest. He asserted that the “right to privacy” superseded the “right to know” and that records could not be opened for “scrutiny by strangers” under the RTI law, although the university was willing to show the records to the court.
The original RTI applicant had defended the CIC’s directive, arguing that the Right to Information Act allows for the disclosure of a prime minister’s educational qualifications in the “greater public good.” However, the High Court’s final order on Monday quashed the CIC’s directive, effectively upholding the university’s stance on privacy and its fiduciary duty to its students, past and present.
