Seeking documents ‘to know the quality of the students’ in Pondicherry University
3 May, 2013
Background
The appellant filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the Pondicherry University seeking source documents for the Vice Chancellor Prof. and the Registrar ‘to know the quality of the students’ in Pondicherry University. The Public Information Officer (PIO) informed the appellant that the Vice Chancellor has conveyed that ‘the quality of the students’ in any university is ensured through the process of selection adopted in the university. Since Pondicherry University adopts the procedure of all India entrance and the ratio of selection averages to nearly 1:20, which is one of the highest in Indian universities, the quality of students is presumably good. The second parameter is the score in earlier examinations. The third parameter is the performance of the students in the examinations and the performance of the students in the examination in chemistry which is one of the best in the campus. While filing the second appeal before the before Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that through his RTI application he has requested for a document and not an explanation from the University.
View of CIC
The Commission observed that the respondent can only provide information that is held by them or is under their control. The Commission rejected the appeal observing that the information sought by the appellant has been appropriately replied to by the public authority.
Citation: Mr. Bidhu Bhusan Das v. Pondicherry University in No. CIC/SS/A/2011/000562
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2013/CIC/1252
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission