The Gujarat High Court has held that educational documents, including university degrees, constitute personal information under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). The Court further held that such records are held by universities in a fiduciary capacity and are protected from disclosure under Sections 8(1)(e) and 8(1)(j), unless the required larger public interest is established.
Justice Biren Vaishnav delivered the judgment on March 31, 2023, while deciding a petition filed by Gujarat University challenging a 2016 order of the Central Information Commission (CIC).
The dispute arose after the CIC, while dealing with another RTI proceeding, treated an oral request concerning the educational qualifications of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an RTI application. The CIC directed the PMO to provide the specific number and year of the degree and postgraduate degree to Delhi University and Gujarat University, enabling the universities to search their records and provide the documents.
Gujarat University challenged the CIC's order before the High Court. The University argued that educational qualifications were personal information protected under Sections 8(1)(e) and 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.
Justice Biren Vaishnav relied on several Supreme Court rulings concerning personal information and the fiduciary relationship between examining bodies and examinees. The Court held that degrees remain protected information even after completion of the examination process.
The Court observed:
“In light of the aforesaid legal position laid down by the Hon'ble Apex Court, this court holds that the educational documents including degrees fall within ambit of personal information of a citizen, disclosure of which is exempted under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.”
The High Court noted that the CIC itself had found that the information had no nexus with accountability or transparency in the discharge of public functions, and held that no larger public interest had been established to justify disclosure.
The High Court further held that the CIC had no statutory power to convert an oral request made at the appellate stage into an RTI application on its own.
The Gujarat High Court allowed Gujarat University's petition and quashed and set aside the CIC order dated April 29, 2016. Respondent No. 2 was directed to pay ₹25,000 as costs to the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority within four weeks. The Rule was made absolute.
Case Title: Gujarat University v. M Sridhar Acharyulu (Madabhushi Sridhar) & 3 Others
Case Number: R/Special Civil Application No. 9476 of 2016
Judge: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Biren Vaishnav
Decision Date: March 31, 2023
