The Allahabad High Court has ruled that marks obtained in public examinations cannot be treated as confidential information and may be disclosed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. However, the court clarified that candidates are not entitled to obtain copies of other candidates’ answer sheets.

The decision reinforces the principle of transparency in recruitment processes and public examinations.

According to the court, when a candidate who appeared in a public examination submits an RTI application seeking the marks of other participants, authorities may provide the information without requiring consent from those candidates.

Public Exams Require Transparency

The court observed that recruitment examinations conducted by public authorities form part of a public process. Once evaluation is completed and merit lists are prepared, the marks obtained by candidates become part of a system that affects many applicants. Because of this public character, such information cannot be treated as strictly private.

The bench also noted that disclosure of marks generally does not violate personal privacy and therefore may be shared under RTI when requested by another participant in the same examination.

Bench That Delivered the Judgment

The decision was delivered by a division bench consisting of Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Swarupama Chaturvedi while hearing a writ petition related to disclosure of examination information in a recruitment process.

Background of the Case

The case began when a candidate who appeared in a railway recruitment examination filed an RTI request seeking details of the marks awarded to himself and three other candidates.

When the full information was not provided, the issue was taken to the Central Information Commission (CIC), which directed the authorities to supply photocopies of the answer sheets to the applicant.

Railway officials later challenged this direction before the High Court through a writ petition.

Court Draws a Line Between Marks and Answer Sheets

While deciding the case, the High Court partly accepted the Railways’ plea. It allowed disclosure of marks but made a clear distinction between marks and answer sheets.

The court noted that providing photocopies of answer sheets belonging to other candidates could reveal sensitive information such as the identities or signatures of examiners. Therefore, authorities cannot be compelled to provide those copies.

Instead, the court suggested that allowing the applicant to inspect the answer sheets would be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the RTI Act.

Access to One’s Own Answer Sheet

The judgment also clarified that a candidate has the right to obtain a copy of his or her own answer sheet. However, this right does not necessarily extend to obtaining copies of answer sheets belonging to other candidates.

The court also indicated that if a person who did not participate in the examination requests such information, the department may rely on confidentiality provisions depending on the circumstances.