The Allahabad High Court has clarified the scope of information that can be accessed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in recruitment examinations. While candidates may obtain marks secured by others, they cannot demand photocopies of other candidates’ answer sheets.
Background of the Case
The case arose after Santosh Kumar, who appeared in a recruitment examination for the post of Legal Assistant conducted by the Railways, filed an RTI application seeking the marks of three candidates and photocopies of their evaluated answer sheets. The application was submitted to the Public Information Officer at Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi.
Authorities initially disclosed the question paper but refused to provide photocopies of answer sheets. However, the applicant was allowed to inspect them. Dissatisfied, he approached the Central Information Commission (CIC), which directed the Railways to supply photocopies of the answer sheets.
Challenging the CIC’s orders dated 13 May 2009 and 4 June 2009, the Union of India filed a writ petition before the High Court.
Court’s Observations
The Division Bench of Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Swarupama Chaturvedi examined whether such information could be disclosed under the RTI Act.
The court observed that marks obtained by candidates in a public recruitment examination cannot be treated as private information.
“The marks obtained by candidates in a competitive examination become part of a public activity and disclosure of such marks serves a larger public interest,” the bench noted.
However, the court distinguished between disclosure of marks and providing copies of answer sheets of other candidates. It pointed out that answer sheets may contain examiner signatures and internal evaluation details, which should not be disclosed to third parties.
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Decision
The High Court held that providing the marks of candidates was sufficient information under the RTI Act. It ruled that applicants do not have a vested right to obtain photocopies of other candidates’ answer sheets, though they may inspect them if permitted.
Accordingly, the court partly allowed the writ petition and quashed the CIC orders to the extent they directed supply of photocopies of answer sheets.
Case Title: Union of India through G.M. Diesel Locomotive Works v. Central Information Commission & Others
Case No.: Writ – C No. 39694 of 2009
Decision Date: 26 February 2026
