In a first, the Delhi high court (HC) has ruled that students appearing for competitive exams at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) can take the question papers home since it falls within the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Around 2.15 lakh students appear for Aiims exam each year.
The ruling means even students appearing for IIT-JEE, CAT and other such exams will be allowed to take question papers home.
The Delhi HC upheld the Central Information Commission’s order to provide question papers to Vikrant Bhuria, who appeared for Aiims’ Mch entrance test. Justice S Muralidhar said Aiims has not been able to show how the disclosure of the question paper would adversely affect the competitive position of a third party under the RTI.
AIIMS had challenged the order, saying question papers are its “intellectual property” and that the larger public interest does not warrant their disclosure. It also contended that since many experts prepare the question papers, their revelation will encourage the students to memorise the answers. This will eventually adversely affect the selection of good candidates for super specialty courses.
Justice Murlidhar said the question papers cannot be termed as intellectual property of an institution. He added that it would “certainly be in the larger public interest to provide the questions to aspiring students” who will be able to understand the pattern in which questions are framed.
The court also rejected Aiims’s contention that it enjoys a fiduciary relationship with the experts who prepare the question papers.
The HC said the grounds raised by Aiims for denying the questions papers to aspiring students are tenable in law.
Unless the public authority is able to show that the information sought is exempted from disclosure under section 8(1) RTI Act, the data sought is required to be disclosed to the applicant, the HC explained. Experts feel the denial of question papers to students is leading to an increase in education clinics, which charge high fees.
