CIC Raps 2 PIOs for Not Providing Copies of Answer Sheets to Students under RTI

Vinita Deshmukh 04 June 2025

Public Interest

The central information commission has issued strict warnings to two central public information officers (CPIOs) of the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) for violating provisions of the RTI Act by denying two students photocopies of their answer sheets.

In both cases, the CPIOs insisted on the students paying the fees of Rs700 per marksheet under the internal rules of NIOS instead of providing them information at the rate of Rs2 per page, as per the norms of the RTI Act. This tendency of thwarting students’ right to seek information under RTI has been sternly criticised by central information commissioner (CIC) Anandi Ramalingam, during the second appeal hearings of both the cases held on 28 May 2025.

In her orders issued on 28 May 2025, CIC Ramalingam took strong objections to the conduct of the CPIOs as well as the first appellate authorities (FAAs), stating that such actions defeat the very purpose of the RTI Act and warned of penalties under Section 20 of the Act in the future, if repeated.

In the first case, RTI applicant Paramjit Kaur had requested a photocopy of her Physics answer sheet for the April/ May 2023 examination, held at Bhagirathi International School in Dehradun. Dissatisfied with her marks and subsequent re-evaluation, she filed an RTI application on 3 November 2023.

The CPIO of NIOS, Bhopal, replied that as per the NIOS prospectus 2021–22, photocopies could only be obtained within 15 days of the result and by paying Rs700 per answer script. The application was thus rejected on grounds of the expiry of that timeframe. The FAA upheld this response of the CPIO.

Ms Paramjit then approached the CIC. Although she did not attend the hearing, SK Pandey, regional director and CPIO, appeared via video conference and reiterated the internal norms mentioned in the NIOS prospectus.

CIC Ramalingam, however, emphasised that RTI responses must conform strictly to the RTI Act and not to institutional rules. She cited Section 7(1) read with 7(5) of the Act and rule 4 of the RTI Rules, 2012, which allow for such information to be provided at Rs2 per page and not Rs700, as being demanded. She also referred to the Supreme Court judgment in ICSI vs Paras Jain, which clarified that RTI is a parallel and independent avenue for information and cannot be overridden by internal procedures.

Ms Ramalingam pointed out that the CPIO should have simply stated whether the answer script was available as of the date of the RTI reply. If the script was no longer retained, that fact alone was enough for a response. Instead, by diverting the applicant to NIOS’s internal rules, the CPIO has undermined the spirit of the RTI Act. She then concluded her order with a stern warning to the CPIO and directed him to strictly comply with the statutory provisions of the RTI Act henceforth.

In a second case heard on the same day, RTI applicant and student Mariya Parween had similarly requested a copy of her answer sheet, stating she had received just 20 marks in a subject and was not satisfied. The CPIO demanded Rs700 through a demand draft in favour of the NIOS secretary, payable at Ranchi, citing institutional norms.

In her second appeal to the CIC, Ms Parween argued that this demand was unreasonable, as the RTI Act stipulates only Rs2 per page. She also stated that despite the FAA’s direction to provide the answer sheet, she had not received it.

The CIC found that the CPIO failed to demand the correct fee as per RTI Rules, violating its provisions. However, since Ms Parween neither pressed for punitive action nor appeared for the hearing, CIC Ramalingam closed the matter with a caution, warning the CPIO against such violations in the future.

Moneylife has featured a series of stories pertaining to students’ answer sheets under RTI.

Read here:

Despite SC judgment, HSC Board refuses copy of answer sheet under RTI

CBSE Students, Do Not Hesitate To Ask for Your Answer Sheets under RTI

Pune University defies SC order by not showing answer sheets; RTI activist slams legal notice

Ultimate victory for students: Tuesday’s Supreme Court judgment orders access of copies of answer sheets of all examinations

Can you ask for other students’ answer-sheets? No, that’s misuse of RTI

(Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also the convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book "To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte" with Vinita Kamte and is the author of "The Mighty Fall".)

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