HC asks CBSE if students’ marks are online now

New Delhi: If the CBSE exam marks are available online now, then there can be no claim of right to privacy for the previous students, the Delhi High Court said on Thursday.

The court's observation came during the hearing of the Central Board of Secondary Education's (CBSE) plea challenging a Central Information Commission (CIC) direction allowing inspection of Union Minister Smriti Irani's class 10th and 12th records to an applicant under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

"Are all the CBSE marks of students available in the public domain today? If it is possible today, then you cannot say there is a right of privacy qua results of earlier students," Justice Vibhu Bakhru observed. The court asked CBSE lawyer Anil Soni to take instructions on the factual situation presently and listed the matter for further hearing on March 8.

The court had in November last year told the Board that it cannot continue to enjoy the stay on the CIC order if it does not inform the RTI applicant, Mohd Naushaduddin, about it. The court was today told by CBSE that it has informed the RTI applicant about its appeal and the stay order. The CBSE had challenged the CIC's January 17, 2017 order on the ground that the school records of Irani cannot be disclosed under the RTI Act as it was third party information which was held in fiduciary capacity.

The CIC had allowed the applicant to inspect the school records of Irani and rejected the CBSE's contention that the information sought by Naushaduddin was "personal". The commission had said that when a public representative declares his educational qualifications, the voter has a right to check the declaration.