के (cid:574)ीय सूचना आयोग Central Information Commission बाबा गंगनाथ माग(cid:330),मुिनरका

Baba Gangnath Marg, Munirka नई िद(cid:671)ी, New Delhi – 110067 िशकायत सं(cid:421)ा / Complaint No. CIC/IGNOU/C/2024/648928 Sevak Kumar …िशकायतकता(cid:330)/Complainant VERSUS बनाम CPIO: Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)

Odisha …(cid:366)ितवादीगण /Respondent Relevant dates emerging from the complaint:

RTI : 02.10.2024 FA : Not on record Complaint : Nil.

CPIO : 04.11.2024 FAO : Not on record Hearing : 18.11.2025 Date of Decision: 28.11.2025 CORAM:

Hon’ble Commissioner _ANANDI RAMALINGAM O R D E R

1. The Complainant filed an RTI application dated 02.10.2024 seeking information as under:

(i) “I, Sevak Kumar, a student of Indira Gandhi National Open University , request a photocopy of my answer script under section 8(3) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Below are the details of the examination for which I need the answer script:

Name: Sevak Kumar Enrollment Number: 172437020 Program Name: BSC Subject Code: BPHE-101 Exam Date: 31.12.22 morning session Exam Year: December 2022 Exam Centre Code: 0550 Exam Centre name: G D COLLEGE BEGUSARAI, BIHAR-851101 I kindly request you to provide the photocopy of my answer script for the aforementioned subject and examination.

I am ready to pay any applicable fees for the same, as per the RTI rules. Please inform me of the further process to receive the document.”

2. The CPIO replied vide letter dated 04.11.2024 and the same is reproduced as under :-

“There is a laid down procedure for getting a photocopy of answer script of IGNOU. Please follow the steps mentioned in the following link https://onlineservices.ignou.ac.in/reevaluation/ for obtaining photocopy.”

3. Dissatisfied with the response received from the CPIO, the Complainant approached the Commission with the instant Complaint dated Nil.

4. The Complainant remained absent during the hearing and on behalf of the Respondent, Sanjay Patel, DR & CPIO attended the hearing through video conference.

5. The Respondent relied upon the detailed written submissions filed prior to the hearing on 10.11.2025 stating inter alia as under:

“The applicant submitted an RTI application at the IGNOU HQs New Delhi on

02. 10. 2024, seeking photocopy of BPHE 101 answer script, which is received at IGNOU REC Bhubaneswar on 21. 10. 2024; after more than 19 months (i.e, 01 Yr, 07 Months, 17 Days) of the publication of the evaluation result of BPHE 101 and more than 18 months (i.e, 01 Yr, 06 Months, 08 days) of the publication of the re-evaluation result of BPHE 101. The applicant was replied by the PIO REC Bhubaneswar on 04.11.2024 (within 14 days of its receipt) that "There is a laid down procedure for getting a photocopy of answer script of IGNOU". The applicant should follow the procedure/norms of the University, as he followed rightly and timely, in case of getting photocopy of CHE 10 (as mentioned above in details)

IGNOU conducts Term End Examinations every six months, handling answer scripts for millions of students. As per University norms, results for a TEE are generally declared within 45 days. The December 2022 TEE completed in mid Jan 2023 and was declared around February/March 2023. Due to the massive scale of operations, the University's approved Record Retention Schedule mandates that TEE answer scripts are preserved for a period of one year (Currently (i.e on 06. 04. 2023) revised to six months) from the date of declaration of result. Therefore, the answer scripts for the December 2022 TEE, including the complainant's, were weeded out (destroyed) as per the official policy in July 2024 (ie on 26. 07. 2024).

The complainant's RTI application was filed on 02. 10. 2024, after more than 2 months of dispose off the records, i.e the requested record had already been weeded out; by the time the RTI application was submitted by the applicant to the University HQs and REC Bhubaneswar. Thus, at the time the RTI application was filed, the information sought was no longer i