The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Irani asked DU not to disclose info on her qualification, CIC told
AMID THE row over her educational qualification, Union Minister Smriti Irani had asked the Delhi University not to disclose information to an RTI applicant, the School of Open Learning (SOL) has told the Central Information Commission (CIC). The CIC has now directed the SOL to produce all records related to educational details of the Union Textile Minister on February 10.
Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu had directed DU on December 23 to disclose records related to Irani. On December29,sol’scentralpublic Information Officer O P Tanwar soughtmoretimetocomplywith the order. Granting time, the CIC scheduled the next hearing on January10.tanwardidnotappear on that date. Acharyulu has now fixed February 10 as the next date ofhearingandsaidinthelatestorder, “If the CPIO choose not to be present (on February 10), the commission will be compelled to proceed, assuming that there is nothing to explain.”
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 whichhehasissuednoticesandis finalising orders.