Major RTI victory : Delhi HC directs UPSC to reveal cut-off marks

In a important decision on 17th April , 2007 the Delhi High Court asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to disclose the cut-off marks of the civil services preliminary examination. Disclosure of information as directed by CIC cannot harm the interest of UPSC and or any third party. The approach of CIC in this matter has been in correct perspective," Justice B D Ahmed said. Last year on November 27, the High Court had stayed the CIC order in which it has directed the UPSC to disclose the individual scores of the candidates who appeared in the preliminary civil services examinations 2006.The November 13 CIC order to the UPSC was based on the plea of Rakesh Pratap and Shiv Shambhu, two candidates out of over 2,500 aspirants for the civil services.
The writ petition filed by the UPSC sought directions to CIC for an ex-parte interim stay of the order on grounds that disclosure of information would harm the examination system.
The CIC in its full Bench order, headed by Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, asked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to disclose the marks obtained by each candidate, besides revealing the scaling system. However, the scaling system differs in terms of weightage given to the same marks in subjects like Maths and History.
Around 2500 unsuccessful candidates had filed separate applications seeking the disclosure of their marks.
In September last year, the UPSC announced that disclosure of information regarding cut-off marks, individual scores scaling criteria and model answers would lead to violation of the Official Secrets Act (OSA), following an appeal made to the Central Information Commission under the Right To Information (RTI) Act.