The Delhi High Court has directed its information officer to disclose the marks awarded by an interview panel to candidates of Delhi Higher Judicial Service (DHJS) examination held in 2013, under the Right to Information Act.
The court said when the results of the examination have been placed in public domain, there was no question of claiming any exemption under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The court passed the order while disposing of a plea of one of the candidates who had appeared in the 2013 DHJS exam and had sought information on viva voce marks awarded by the interview committee to other candidates.
‘Disclose Marks Awarded in a Tabulated Statement’: HC
The candidate, Mukesh Kumar, approached the High Court challenging the Central Information Commission's order rejecting his appeal under the RTI Act, which was preferred against an order of the first appellate authority.
The present petition is disposed of by directing the respondent to disclose a tabulated statement of the marks awarded to all candidates by the interview panel as available on record [...] The results of the examination have been placed in public domain and, there is no question of claiming any exemption under Section 8(1)(e) of the Act.Justice Vibhu Bakhru
The court noted that in this case, the issue was not regarding any confidential grading, but results of a public examination for selecting candidates for appointment to the DHJS examination. Regarding the petitioner's request for the break-up of the interview marks, the court said it does not find any reason why such information ought to be withheld from him.
However, the court said the handwritten marks awarded by the panel were part of the working papers of the interview panel and cannot be disclosed as it would inevitably disclose the identity of the panel's members.
The Public Information Officer (PIO) of the High Court had submitted before the CIC that although the information regarding the marks awarded by the interview committee was not traceable earlier, it had been traced and was now available with the PIO. This was also informed to Kumar, who was represented by advocate Dharmendra Kumar Mishra.
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