Can question paper and answer key be disclosed before the examination process is over?
26 Dec, 2012Background
The appellant had appeared in the recruitment of the drug inspectors test conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). He later filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act with the UPSC seeking information relating to the said test such as, the outcome of the recruitment test; the question paper and the answer key; the details of the marks awarded to him and to some others. The Public Information Officer (PIO) declined the information on the ground that the examination process was not yet over.
Proceeding
During the hearing before the Central Information Commission (CIC), the appellant submitted that the PIO should have at least provided part information like the question and the answer key because it was not dependent on the final outcome of the examination process. The respondent submitted that the examination process continued all through and completed only this year and that the information could not have been disclosed then.
View of CIC
The Commission observed that some of the information namely the question paper and the answer key could have been provided right away without affecting the examination process in any manner. The CIC also stated that the remaining information could not have been provided since the final results of the recruitment process were not published. Observing that the examination process has been completed, the CIC directed the PIO to provide to the appellant the desired information including the copies of various records and documents such as the question paper and answer key and the marks awarded to him in the said test.
Citation: Mr. Ganesh Bari v. Union Public Service Commission in File No. CIC/SM/A/2012/000756
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/900
Click here to view original RTI order of Court / Information Commission