Whistle for Public Interest (WHIP), a group representing public-spirited law students, has submitted a representation to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) demanding the supply of answer-sheets to students under the Right to Information Act, 2005, at the cost of Rs.2 per page instead of an exorbitant fee of Rs.1,000 per subject, which it is charging at present.
The memorandum, submitted to CBSE Chairman Y.S.K. Seshu Kumar, pointed out that the Supreme Court had held in 2011 that every student had the fundamental and legal right to access his or her answer-sheets under the RTI Act and the rules framed under it, which have prescribed the cost of Rs.2 per page.
The apex court had held in the case of CBSE vs. Aditya Bandhopadhyay that the answer book was a document of record. The evaluated answer book was an information under Section 2 (f) of the RTI Act, said the court.
However, CBSE charges Rs.700 per subject for providing the copy of answer-sheets to the students. In addition to this, the students are compulsorily required to go through the process of verification of marks, for which they have to pay the prescribed fee of Rs.300 per subject. A student thus has to pay a total of Rs.1,000.
The representation, signed by law students Kumar Shanu and Paras Jain, said it was astonishing that the CBSE, being an institution responsible for educating a large section of the society, was “blatantly flouting” the law laid down by the Supreme Court.
Moreover, the rules framed and notified by CBSE last year state that no request under the RTI Act for providing photocopy of evaluated answer book would be accepted and no request for revaluation would be accepted under the Act.
