NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has deferred hearing a petition by Delhi University challenging the Central Information Commission’s order which directed the varsity to allow inspection of records of all students who passed the BA exam in 1978, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also cleared it, till May 3 next year.
The high court stayed the order dated December 21, 2016 on January 23, 2017. Justice Yashwant Varma, in his order passed on November 15, noted that no one appeared for DU and adjourned the hearing in the matter. Besides DU’s challenge to the Central Information Commission (CIC) order, the court was also hearing other petitions which raised similar legal issues pertaining to the disclosure of details of results of certain examinations.
The CIC order was passed on activist Neeraj’s application under the Right to Information Act, seeking details related to students who appeared in the Bachelor of Arts in 1978 in DU. In its challenge to the CIC order, DU has contended that the order of the RTI authority is ‘arbitrary’ and ‘untenable in law’ as the information sought to be disclosed is ‘third party personal information.
The DU said in its plea that ‘it was completely illegal for the CIC to direct the petitioner (DU) to disclose an information which is available to it in its fiduciary capacity, that too without rendering any finding pertaining to any pressing necessity of such information on account of larger public interest sought to be achieved through such disclosure.’
The CIC asked DU to allow inspection while rejecting the contention of its Central Public Information Officer that it was third-party personal information, saying there was ‘neither merit nor legality’ in it.
HC refuses transfer of JeM militant
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has declined to transfer from Tihar Jail to Srinagar Jail a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant, who is serving a life term in a UAPA case, considering the law and order repercussions expressed by the authorities after evaluating the security risk. JeM militanT Abdul Majeed Baba sought transfer to his native state jail, Srinagar Central Jail, from Central Jail of Tihar in Delhi pleading his ill health.