Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The High Court, principal bench of Jabalpur, has given strict directions to the Army authorities for transparency in Agniveer selections. The HC directed the authorities to provide information regarding the marks obtained by the selected candidates. In response to their RTI application, the petitioners received information only about the cut-off marks and their own marks.
However, the marks obtained by the approximately 50 selected candidates were not disclosed, which led to the filing of the petition. Justice Vishal Dhagat passed an order and emphasised that the marks obtained in a public examination do not qualify as personal information and that every candidate has the right to know the marks of their competitors.
The court found that disclosing this information does not invade any candidate's personal privacy, thereby rejecting the respondents' argument based on Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act, 2005. The main grievance of the Petitioners was the lack of transparency in the selection process of Agniveers.
Advocate Narinderpal Singh Ruprah and Navtej Singh Ruprah appeared for the Petitioners. The petitioners had participated in the Agniveer recruitment rally and performed exceptionally well in September 2022. They also did well in the written exam conducted in November 2022. The results, declared on November 26, 2022, only displayed the roll numbers of the selected candidates without their names or the marks obtained by them.
During the final hearing on July 1, 2024, the HC had ordered the Army authorities to disclose the marks obtained by all candidates who had been selected in the same selection process. The court directed the respondents to provide the requested information within 15 days from the date of the order's communication, underscoring the need for transparency in public examinations.
