PM Modi's DU degree will not be made public: What Delhi High Court said while overturning CIC's order
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BA degree from Delhi University (DU) will not be made public. Delhi High Court on Monday overturned the order of Central Information Commission (CIC).
Justice Sachin Dutta of Delhi High Court on Monday gave his verdict on DU's petition. It said that the university is not bound to show the degree.
In fact, in 2016, on the petition of an RTI activist, CIC had ordered Delhi University to make public the records of all the students who passed the BA examination in 1978.
PM Modi also passed the examination in the same year. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing on behalf of the RTI activist, argued.
The right to privacy is more important
During the hearing in the court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on behalf of the university, argued that the CIC's order should be canceled because the right to privacy is more important than the right to know. The university told the court that it is ready to present the degree records of Prime Minister Modi before the court, but under the RTI Act, the degree cannot be made public for investigation by strangers.
Delhi University argued that it keeps the information of the students safe as per a moral obligation and in the absence of public interest, there is no justification for seeking personal information through the RTI Act on the basis of mere curiosity. According to the information, the university says that there is a mandatory provision in Section 6 that the information has to be given, this is the purpose, but the RTI Act is not made to satisfy anyone's curiosity.