Delhi High Court Debates Public Access to PM Modi's Educational Records

The Delhi High Court is scrutinizing the public's right to obtain information on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational qualifications under the RTI Act. The court is assessing whether degrees awarded by Delhi University should be considered public acts and thus open to public scrutiny without justification.

The Delhi High Court is currently deliberating the public's right to access educational records of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This deliberation falls under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The key issue is whether the awarding of a degree by Delhi University should be deemed a public act.

In a hearing before Justice Sachin Datta, senior advocate Shadan Farasat, representing RTI applicant Irshad, argued that degrees from DU, a 'public authority', should be accessible to the public. Farasat noted that the act of granting a degree is public, not private, and citizens should not need justification to request such information.

The case's origins lie in a 2016 Central Information Commission order allowing the inspection of records for students, including PM Modi, who passed the BA exam in 1978. Delhi University has contested this, claiming the information is private. The next hearing is on February 27.