State information commissioner Vijay Kuvalekar had ruled in 2009 that students should be given photocopies of their papers.
Although the Supreme Court (SC) ruled on Tuesday that students could verify their answer sheets under the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005, a similar decision by Pune bench of State Information Commission (SIC) to allow students to get a copy of their answer sheets of SSC examination under the RTI Act has been stayed by the Bombay high court.
The case is pending before the high court.
The apex court has said that the university and board examinee could see his/her copy under the RTI Act. The SC rejected an appeal filed by the CBSE, challenging a Calcutta high court order that had ruled that students could verify their answer sheets. The students had moved the court after the information commissioner struck down their request to go through their answer sheets under the RTI Act.
It may be recalled that state information commissioner (SIC) Vijay Kuvalekar had decided in July 2009 that considering the provisions of section 8 of the RTI Act, the answer sheets of Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary Certificate examinations conducted by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education could not be confidential and its photostat copies have to be made available to students. DNA had published an exclusive report of the order in July 2009.
Kuvalekar made this landmark decision during a hearing on an application under RTI by a student who was denied copies of his answer sheets by the board. The board officials had pointed out that as per the rules, the board considered the answer sheets as confidential and hence, could not be made available.
Kuvalekar had said that the board should formulate a relevant policy for all students and implement it within three months.
But following the order, the board appealed in the Bombay high court against the order. The high court bench comprising SB Mhase and RM Sawant had stayed the order on October 15, 2009. The case is still pending with the high court.
Kuvalekar subsequently had given two orders on appeals regarding Maharashtra State Examination Council to make copies of answer sheets available to examinees in January and February 2011. But both the orders were subsequently stayed by the high court in April 2011 following an appeal by the council.
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