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TMI Blog2015 (5) TMI 1175X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ity has a practice of taking back the question papers from the examinees before they leave the examination hall). The respondent No. 1 University however in response allowed only inspection of the OMR answer sheet and did not provide to the appellant the question paper or the answer key stating that there was no provision therefor. Aggrieved therefrom, the writ petition from which this appeal arises was filed impugning the regulations of the respondent No. 1 University permitting only inspection of answer sheets and prohibiting the supply of question papers and answer keys. 3. The said writ petition was dismissed by the learned Single Judge in limine holding that the remedy if any of the appellant was before the Central Information Commission (CIC) and not by filing the writ petition. 4. This appeal came up before us first on 22nd August, 2014 when being of the view that the dismissal by the learned Single Judge of the writ petition on the ground of the remedy of the appellant being before the CIC and not by way of a writ petition was erroneous since the appellant had in the writ petition challenged the vires of the regulations of the respondent permitting only inspection of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... id policy is to evaluate the examinees on the basis of their conceptual and analytical ability and to distinguish them from those examinees who have exceptionally good memory and can answer the questions on the basis of their memory rather than applying their minds in the true sense; (vii) this Court ought not to interfere with the said decision of the University in the academic matters and selection process; reliance in this regard is placed on All India Council for Technical Education v. Surinder Kumar Dhawan (2009) 11 SCC 726, Director of Film Festivals v. Gaurav Ashwin Jain (2007) 4 SCC 737 and on Sanchit Bansal v. Joint Admission Board (2012) 1 SCC 157; (viii) this Court also in judgment dated 28th May, 2012 in LPA No. 487/2011 titled All India Institute of Medical Sciences v. Vikrant Bhuria upheld the contention of AIIMS that in case the question papers are released, the same will lead to a situation where the students with good memory and who can memorize the previous years' questions will be selected rather than the one with an analytical mind since the number of questions are limited and the same will frustrate the whole purpose of selecting the meritor ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... holding that the provisions of the RTI Act will prevail over the provisions of the bye-laws/rules of examining bodies and that unless the examining body was able to demonstrate that answer book fell under the exempted category of information within the meaning of Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act, the examining body will be bound to provide access to an examinee to inspect and take copies of his evaluated answer book; (d) Union of India v. Anita Singh AIR 2014 Delhi 23 holding that the expression "personal information" in Section 8(1)(j) of the Act refers to the information personal to a third party held by the public authority and not information relating to the information seeker himself or the public authority; (e) The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India v. Shaunak H. Satya (2011) 8 SCC 781 laying down that though the question papers, solutions/model answers and instructions in regard to any particular examination may not be disclosable before the examination is held but the position will be different once the examination is held in as much as the disclosure of question papers, model answers and instructions in regard to any particular examination would not ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ntiality will have to be maintained, particularly considering that almost 83000 students were appearing annually in that examination and on Vikrant Bhuria aforesaid." 9. The question for adjudication boils down to, (i) validity of the rule of the respondent No. 1 University of not allowing the students to take away the question paper from the examination hall; (ii) validity of the refusal of the respondent No. 1 University to supply copy of the said question paper under the RTI Act even after the result of the examination has been declared; and, (iii) validity of the refusal of the respondent No. 1 University to supply copies of the OMR answer sheets and answer key under the RTI Act even after the result of the examination has been declared, though permitting inspection thereof. 10. We have considered the rival contentions. 11. As far as the reliance by the counsel for the respondent No. 1 University on the judgment of the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court in Nirav Deepak Jobanputra supra is concerned, the same relates to the pre RTI era and is clearly not in sync with the subsequent judgments cited by the father of the appellant. Reliance thereon is thus misconceived. 12 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ond the curriculum prescribed for Class XIIth. To our knowledge, no secrecy is maintained with respect to Class XIIth board examination question papers which the examinees are allowed to carry away with them after the examination. Of course Class XIIth board examination does not comprise only of multiple choice questions and also comprises of subjective questions. However we have wondered that when there is no such fear as is expressed with respect to the Class XIIth board examination and when question papers therefor can be set year after year, why the same cannot be done for the MBBS entrance examination. The course content for the MBBS entrance examination and the possible questions even if of multiple choice variety cannot fall in a narrow domain, as in an examination for a super specialty course in medicine. No explanation in this regard has been given in the counter affidavit of the respondent No. 1 University or was given at the time of hearing. We do not even know whether the matter has been considered by the experts of the respondent No. 1 University in this light. We find it very hard to believe that the stock of questions even of multiple choice for testing the merit for ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pers of All India Pre-Medical Test held for admission to MBBS and also comprising of multiple choice questions and the question paper of IIT JEE (Main) and IIT JEE (Advanced) again comprising of multiple choice questions as well as the Notification of the CBSE about the display of images of OMR answer sheets on the website. 21. We are of the opinion that if the other Universities also holding entrance examination to the MBBS course comprising of multiple choice questions are not preventing their students from carrying away the question papers from the examination hall or are providing copies of the answer key and the answer sheets then there is no reason for the respondent No. 1 University to take a different stand, particularly when no reason therefor is given. The very fact that different Universities holding separate examination to entrance to their MBBS course are able to come up with different question papers year after year belies the contention of the respondent No. 1 University of the stock of questions being limited. We may also take note of the fact that most of the students appearing for the entrance examination to the MBBS course in the respondent No. 1 University woul ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ation by furnishing copies would entail diversion of resources or where furnishing of copies would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the information/document. The respondent No. 1 University has refused to supply copies of OMR answer sheets of the appellant himself and the answer key, not on the grounds of the same entailing diversion of resources but on the ground of the same in turn revealing the contents of the question paper. The same cannot be a ground of preservation of the OMR answer sheet or answer key. It can perhaps fall under the ground of "safety" but with which we have dealt above. 26. Under the RTI Act no information sought can be refused unless the same falls in one of the Clauses of Section 8(1) thereof. The respondent No. 1 University has pegged its case under Clause (j) of sub Section (1) of Section 8 which exempts from disclosure of information which relates to personal information and the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual. In our opinion the issue whether the question papers/answer sheets/answer keys fall in the said exemption is no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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