Delhi High Court - Question paper is the intellectual property of AIIMS
9 Dec, 2012Hearing a plea by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Justice Shakdher of the Delhi High Court set aside an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) directing AIIMS to provide the question paper and their answers for its MBBS entrance tests from 1991 to 2010.
Earlier, on the appeal of Prakash Singh, the CIC had directed AIIMS to provide the copies of the question papers of the MBBS entrance tests held by it from 1991 to 2010. The CIC had also directed to provide answers to information seeker. The AIIMS had filed a petition challenging the order of the CIC and requested the High Court to quash the order. The counsel for AIIMS cited a verdict of a larger bench of the Delhi High Court which had held that the question papers “constituted intellectual property” of AIIMS. The same were held to be exempt from disclosure under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The said judgment was related to question papers of entrance tests for MCH, a super speciality course. Justice Shakdher did not agree with the plea that there was a distinction as the earlier verdict related to question papers of entrance tests for MCH, a super speciality course and the instant matter pertained to MBBS entrance exams. The AIIMS took the plea that the question bank was limited and its disclosure them would compromise the standards of entry of meritorious students into the college.