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2023 Supreme(Del) 4290
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Satish Chandra Sharma, Subramonium Prasad, JJ.
Nitish Shankar – Appellant
Versus
Union of India & Ors. – Respondents
LPA 449 of 2023 & CM APPLs. 26695 of 2023, 26696 of 2023
Decided On : 19-05-2023
Ms. Suchitra Pandey, Advocate, for the Appellant.
Ms. Nidhi Raman, CGSC, with Ms.Priya Mishra, GP, Mr. Zubin Singh, Mr. Akash Mishra, Advocates, for the UOI.
Mr. Naresh Kaushik, Advocate, for the UPSC.
The disclosure of answer sheets in the context of examinations is subject to public interest, as established by relevant judgments.
Headnote:
Answer Sheets - UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination - RTI Act - Civil Appeal No. 6159-6162/2013 - Prashant Ramesh Chakkarwar v. UPSC, (2013) 12 SCC 489
Fact of the Case:
The Appellant, an engineering graduate, sought access to his answer sheets and model answers of the UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination through an RTI application. His request was denied based on the judgment in Civil Appeal No. 6159-6162/2013. The Appellant then filed a Writ Petition, which was dismissed by the learned Single Judge, leading to the present appeal.
Finding of the Court:
The Court found that the disclosure of answer sheets is subject to public interest, as established in the judgment in Civil Appeal No. 6159-6162/2013. It concluded that no public interest was shown in the present case to warrant the disclosure of the answer sheets to the Appellant.
Issues: The main issue was whether the Appellant should be granted access to his answer sheets and model answers of the UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination.
Ratio Decidendi: The Court relied on the judgment in Civil Appeal No. 6159-6162/2013, which established that the disclosure of answer sheets is contingent on public interest. It also referenced Prashant Ramesh Chakkarwar v. UPSC, (2013) 12 SCC 489, to highlight the complexities and potential pitfalls of providing answer sheets to candidates.
Final Decision: The appeal was dismissed, affirming the decision of the learned Single Judge to deny the Appellant access to his answer sheets and model answers.
JUDGMENT (Oral)
1. Vide the present appeal the Appellant seeks to challenge the Order dated 24.02.2023, passed by the learned Single Judge in W.P.(C) 2372/2023. The learned Single Judge by the Order impugned herein has dismissed the Writ Petition wherein the Appellant herein had prayed for a writ or direction to the Respondents herein to provide his answer sheets of all seven papers of the UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination along with their model answers to the Appellant herein.
2. Shorn of details, the facts of the case, in brief, are as under:
a) It is stated that the Appellant is engineering graduate from BITS Pilani. It is stated that the Appellant herein applied and appeared for Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2020 and cleared the same and then appeared for the Mains Examination and was declared unsuccessful. It is stated that the Appellant wanted to see his answer sheets and for the same he applied for his answer sheets along with a copy of the model answers by filing an RTI application on 13.010.2021.
b) The application of the Appellant herein filed under the Right to Information Act (hereinafter referred to as the `RTI Act') was rejected by the Respondents on the ground that disclosure of answer sheets is exempted from the provisions of RTI Act in terms of the judgment dated 20.02.2018, passed by the Apex Court in Civil Appeal No. 6159-6162/2013, titled as UPCS etc. v. Angesh Kumar & Ors etc.. The appeal against the reply of the CPIO was rejected by the Appellate Authority on 04.01.2022. Material on record shows that being aggrieved by the reply of the first Appellate Authority the Appellant herein preferred a second appeal which was also rejected by the Appellate Authority on 13.10.2022.
c) It is stated that the Appellant herein filed a Writ Petition, being W.P.(C) No.1134/2021 challenging the decision of the authorities before the Apex Court and the same was dismissed as withdrawn vide order dated 21.01.2021 with liberty to the Appellant herein to approach this Court.
d) The Appellant, thereafter, approached this Court by filing W.P.(C) 2372/2023 praying for a writ or direction to the Respondents herein to provide the answer sheets of all seven papers of the UPSC Civil Services Mains Examination along with their model answers to the Appellant herein. The learned Single Judge vide Order impugned herein has dismissed the Writ Petition by placing reliance on the judgment of the Apex Court in Angesh Kumar (supra).
e) It is this Order which has been challenged in the present appeal.
3. It is contended by the learned Counsel appearing for the Appellant that there is no reason as to why the Appellant should be denied access to his answer sheets and marks obtained by him in the Civil Services Examination. He states that there cannot be any secrecy in terms of the answer sheets. He further submits that the Courts have always leaned in favour of a transparent process and that permitting the Appellant herein to have access to his answer sheets and marks obtained by him would only make the process more transparent and thereby inducing confidence in the process of evaluation of answers.
4. Heard the Counsels and perused the material on record.
5. The issue as to whether the answer sheets of Civil Services (Mains) Examination can be supplied to an unsuccessful candidate or not is no longer res integra as the same stands crystallized by the Apex Court in its judgment in Angesh Kumar (supra). Relevant portion of the said Judgment, which though has been quoted by the learned Single Judge, is once again being quoted and the same reads as under:
"(10) Weighing the need for transparency and accountability on the one hand and requirement of optimum use of fiscal resources and confidentiality of sensitive information on the other, we are of the view that information sought with regard to marks in Civil Services Exam cannot be directed to be furnished mechanically. Situation of exams of other academic bodies may stand on differe
