NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday took note of the delay in filing a plea by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh, activist Neeraj Sharma, and advocate Mohammad Irshad, who sought to challenge one of the court’s previous orders relating to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, while hearing the matter, pointed out the delay in moving the petition and directed Delhi University (DU) to file its objections regarding the condonation of delay within three weeks. The court also allowed the petitioners to file their response to DU’s objections. The matter will be heard next in January.
Through their plea, the petitioners have contested a previous single-judge order that held that academic records constitute personal information even for individuals holding public office and that there was no overriding public interest in disclosing them. The earlier order, passed by Justice Sachin Datta, stated that the right to privacy and confidentiality over personal data remains intact even when the person in question is a public figure, provided the data sought is not directly linked to public duties.
The single judge had also clarified that while certain posts may require specific educational qualifications, the office of the PM does not carry such a statutory requirement. “No public interest is implicit in the disclosure of the information sought through the RTI application,” the court had observed, adding that the educational qualifications in question are not connected to the discharge of official responsibilities.