Marks of Civil Services Exam of a candidate who failed were denied in terms of the gazette notification - CIC: Section 22 of the RTI Act has overriding effect; Public authority is free to clarify that these are raw marks & have not been moderated

FACTS

Vide RTI dt 7.6.13, appellant had asked for scores in the following papers of Civil Services Exam 2011: Physics, Public Administration, General Studies (Papers I & II) and Essay.

2. CPIO vide letter dt 3.7.13, informed appellant that as per rules of Civil Services (Main) Examination 2011, “papers on Essay, General Studies and optional subjects of only such candidates will be taken cognizance of as attained such minimum standards as may be fixed by the Commission at their discretion for the qualifying papers on Indian languages and English and therefore the marks in Essay, General Studies and Optional Subjects will not be disclosed to those candidates who fail to obtain such minimum qualifying standards in Indian language and English paper”. As the appellant had failed to attain minimum qualifying marks in Hindi, his papers in Essay, General Studies and Optional Subjects have not been taken cognizance of.

3. An appeal was filed on 17.7.13.

4. AA vide order dt 13.8.13, upheld the decision of the CPIO.

5. Submissions made on behalf of the appellant and public authority were heard. It was submitted on behalf of the appellant that the information being sought was that the marks obtained by the candidate in some of the papers. As the marks exist, they qualify for information as defined in Section 2(f) “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; of the RTI Act. Public authority had not claimed exemption under any of the Sections of the RTI Act in denying the information and has only placed reliance on a gazette notification issued. It was further submitted that Section 2(f) “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; of the RTI Act overrides any other law for the time being in force and hence the information should be provided. In support of his arguments, reliance was placed on several decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court such as the Bihar Public Service Commission Vs Saiyed Hussain Abbas Rizvi, and CBSE Vs Aditya Bandopadhyay.

6. CPIO submitted that the information being sought was denied in terms of the gazette notification issued by the government of India on Feb 23, 2011 for the Civil Services Exam 2011, which clearly stipulates that if a candidate fails to obtain minimum qualifying marks in Indian language paper, marks in respect of other papers will not be disclosed to the candidate. It was further submitted that the information being sought has not attained final shape as the marks are neither tabulated nor moderated.

DECISION

7. The Commission finds that the information being sought by the appellant certainly qualifies as ‘information’ defined in Section 2(f) “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; of the RTI Act. The public authority is denying the information, placing reliance on a gazette notification relating to the Civil Services Examination. Section 22 The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Official Secrets Act, 1923 (19 of 1923), and any other law for the time being in force or in any instrument having effect by virtue of any law other than this Act. of the RTI Act is very clear and states that the provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Official Secrets Act and any other law for the time being in force.

8. We accordingly direct CPIO to provide the information sought by the appellant within three weeks from date of receipt of the order. Public authority is free to clarify that these are raw marks and have not been moderated. The appeal is disposed of.

(Rajiv Mathur)

Chief Information Commissioner

Citation: Shri Siddhartha Bishnoi v. UPSC, New Delhi in File No.CIC/DS/A/2013/002150/RM