Smriti Irani asked DU not to disclose information on her qualification, CIC told

Read | Smriti Irani’s 10th, 12th school documents to be made public: All you need to know

On Tuesday, Acharyulu directed CBSE to allow inspection of all records related to Irani’s Class X and XII exams, rejecting the board’s argument that it was “personal information.”

Irani’s degrees have been caught in a row after a petitioner alleged that she provided contradictory information in her affidavits filed before elections in 2004, 2011 and 2014. The petitioner had said that in her affidavit for April 2004 Lok Sabha polls, Irani said she completed BA in 1996 from DU (School of Correspondence as SOL was then called), whereas in another affidavit of July 11, 2011, before contesting Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat, she said her highest qualification was BCom Part I. The matter was dismissed by the city court on the grounds that considerable time had lapsed in filing the complaint.

The issue is, however, still alive before the CIC where an applicant Naushaduddin filed an appeal, saying that SOL did not provide him information about Irani’s educational qualification that he sought under RTI Act. SOL said that considering that it was a third party information, the CPIO consulted Irani. “In her response, (she) raised objection against disclosure and requested the public authority not to reveal her educational qualification.”

Further, he said, information sought was given by the former HRD Minister in “fiduciary capacity and hence could not be divulged.”

Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur divested Acharyulu of the HRD portfolio, two days after he ordered disclosure of records of Delhi University’s BA course in 1978, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is said to have graduated. However, Acharyulu will continue to adjudicate matters in which he has issued notices and is finalising orders.