New Delhi, 19 February (HS): During the hearing of a petition filed against the order of the Central Instruction Commission on the issue of degree dispute by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the petitioner in the Delhi High Court said that awarding a degree to a student under the right of instruction is not a private but a public act. The counsel appearing for the petitioner made these arguments before the bench of Justice Sachin Datta. The next hearing of the case will be on January 27.

During the hearing, advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for the petitioner, said that Delhi University is a public authority under the Right to Information Act. In such a case, one cannot be denied the instruction of any degree on the basis of the intention of the person seeking instruction.

Let it be known that in this case, Delhi University told the High Court that filing RTI has become a profession these days. On behalf of Delhi University, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that mere curiosity is not necessary for filing RTI. The question here is whether anyone can file an RTI and ask for someone else's degree. Mehta said that a third party cannot say that it wants someone's personal information just because it is curious. He said that someone's degree is private information.

In fact, Neeraj Sharma, associated with Aam Aadmi Party, had sought information about Modi's degrees from Delhi University under the right to information. Delhi University refused to share it as private information. According to the university, no public interest is served by this. After that, Neeraj Sharma approached the Central Vigilance Commission, which imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Meenakshi Sahai, the instruction officer of Delhi University. The commission also ordered to provide information related to the degree. Delhi University has moved the Delhi High Court against this decision of the Central Information Commission.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar