Thursday, August 11, 2011

Rights of Students to see their answer sheets confirmed by SC


Dear Friends,

The Supreme Court has finally confirmed that all students have a rights to inspect and get a photocopy of their answer sheets after their evaluation under the RTI. I see this particularly coming handy to lakhs of students and candidates with disabilities, whose results are often withheld by the examining bodies in an attempt to thwart their induction/recruitment.

I have several of such experiences, where my clients with disabilities were subjected to this silent discrimination. And it was only after our seeking the details of marks obtained under RTI Act, that the malady came to fore. But, the boards did not allow us to see our copy whether what they said was correct. This is going to be a great deterrent for the authorities/examining bodies especially in the recruitment examinations, to discriminate against persons with disabilities or practice a biased approach.

regards
SC Vashishth   

To read from source click the link below:


They have the right to inspect and photocopy their answer sheets after their evaluation under the Right to Information (RTI) Act

Submitted on 08/10/2011 - 12:16:47 PM

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that students have the right to inspect and photocopy their answer sheets after their evaluation under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The apex court bench of Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik allowed the disclosure of the answer sheets of the examination conducted by boards, universities, institutions and public service commissions, when it upheld the Calcutta High Court judgment that permitted the students to inspect their answer sheets.

The apex court pronounced its verdict saying that evaluated answer sheets come under the definition of "information" and reiterated the duty of the public authority under the transparency law to allow maximum disclosure as envisaged by the RTI Act.

The case reached the apex court from high court which by its March 28, 2008, judgment permitted a student, Pritam Rooj, to inspect his answer sheets. Rooj was a student of mathematics in Presidency College.

In 2006, when he sat for the first part of degree examination he secured 52 per cent marks. In the second year he got 208 out of 400 marks and got just 28 marks out of 100 in fifth papers. Upon seeking revaluation, his marks increased by four in the fifth paper.

He contended that his poor marks stood in the way of his getting admission in post-graduation course and applied to inspect his mark sheet under the RTI law which was rejected.

The university said that the answer sheets of an examinee cannot be shared. The High Court overruled it. The order was challenged in apex court by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, among others.

1 comment:

  1. This is a good decision for students. Thanks for providing that information on your post.
    -Wheelchair tiedowns

    ReplyDelete