Relevant facts emerging from appeal:

RTI application filed on : 29.09.2024

CPIO replied on : 21.10.2024

First appeal filed on : 08.11.2024

First Appellate Authority’s order : 23.12.2024

2nd Appeal dated : 21.03.2025

Information sought:

1. The Appellant filed an RTI application dated 29.09.2024(online) seeking the following information:

1 Attested photocopy of original question paper Part I held in the first session of FMG Exam held on 06TH July 2024 in the morning for Yati Dilip Patil Roll No 2411116562 and Application ID FMGE24137215

2 Attested photocopy of original question paper Part II second session of FMG Exam held on 06TH July 2024 in the afternoon for Yati Dilip Patil Roll No 2411116562 and Application ID FMGE24137215

3 Attested photocopy of model answer key of question paper Part I first session of FMG Exam held on 06TH July 2024 in the morning for Yati Dilip Patil Roll No 2411116562 and Application ID FMGE24137215

4 Attested photocopy of model answer key of question paper Part II second session of FMG Exam held on 06TH July 2024 in the afternoon for Yati Dilip Patil Roll No 2411116562 and Application ID FMGE24137215

5 Attested photocopy of all the answers ticked by Yati Dilip Patil Roll No 2411116562 and Application ID FMGE24137215 for the questions asked in the paper Part I First session of FMG Exam held on 06TH July 2024 in the morning.

6 Attested photocopy of all the answers ticked by Yati Dilip Patil Roll No 2411116562 and Application ID FMGE24137215 for the questions asked in the paper Part II Second session of FMG Exam held on 06TH July 2024 in the Afternoon

2. The CPIO furnished a reply to the Appellant on 21.10.2024 stating as under:

“Reply: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6. Please refer to para 9.7 of the FMGE June 2024 session Information Bulletin.”

3. Being dissatisfied, the Appellant filed a First Appeal dated 08.11.2024. The FAA vide its order dated 23.12.2024, held as under:

“Reply :- It is the policy of NBEMS to not to give the question paper or answer key of FMGE.”

4. Feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, Appellant approached the Commission with the instant Second Appeal.

Relevant Facts emerged during Hearing:

The following were present:-

Appellant: Shri Yati Dilip Patil along with his representative Shri Swamy Elanjelian, attended the hearing through VC.

Respondent: Dr. Pallav Bhandari, CPIO- cum- Deputy Director (Medical), NBEMS and Dr. Iboyaima Mangang, FAA- cum- Additional Director (Medical), NBEMS attended the hearing in person.

5. The representative of the Appellant stated that the Respondent has not provided the relevant information as sought in the instant RTI Application.

6. The Respondent submitted that the information sought in the instant RTI Application is covered under a Non-Disclosure Agreement as per para 9.7 of the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) June 2024 session Information Bulletin, the relevant contents is reproduced herein:

“FMGE is a proprietary examination and is conducted only by NBEMS. The contents of this exam are confidential, proprietary and are owned by NBEMS. NBEMS explicitly prohibits the candidate, from reproducing, transmitting or publishing any or some contents of this exam, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means verbal or written, electronic or mechanical for any purpose whatsoever. NBEMS shall not entertain any request for sharing any content of the examination including answer keys/answer sheets”

7. He added that FMGE is a mandatory licensure and screening test for inclusion of foreign-educated doctors and is completely a Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) based exam. The information regarding the questions and answer keys cannot be shared with the public since the question bank is limited and disclosure of such information would defeat the purpose of future FMGE.

8. The appellant intervened and stated that Non-Disclosure Agreement is illegal and question papers and answer keys should be provided and further relied on a judgement o