Justice R R Tripathi of Gujarat High Court has granted stay against the order passed by State Information Commission (SIC) directing Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) to provide certified copy of answer sheets within fifteen days if sought under RTI by the students. The SIC had passed the said order on June 4.
Challenging the order, the board moved a petition in the High Court on June 6 which was taken up for hearing on June 7. Appearing for the board, additional advocate general Mihir Joshi and advocate Deepak Dave submitted that if implemented, the SIC order would lead to “administrative chaos.”
They also pointed out an order passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC) which held that Central Board students cannot be provided answer sheets by the board. Advocate Joshi and advocate Dave contended that the state commission should have followed the CIC order.
After the submissions, the court has admitted the petition and granted stay on the SIC order. While the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB) is heaving a sigh of relief, guardians of the 103 students who had sought the copies are gearing up for a legal battle.
Soon after more than a hundred Std XII students, armed with the Right To Information Act’s life and liberty clause, demanded their respective answer-sheets, the SIC had asked the Board to furnish certified copies of the evaluated answer-sheets last Monday. The commission also asked the board to furnish a certified copy of the model key answers to all the 103 students.
However, Board members argue that GSHSEB approached the court in view of the larger good. Board secretary R K Pathak says, “SIC’s decision would not have served the interest of public, rather it would have only caused significant difficulties for the Board. However, with the stay order, we’ll not have to furnish these copies.”
Meanwhile, parents of the students will be meeting on Thursday to determine the next course of action. “The children are in very high spirit and want to fight it out more than us,” said Kamal Kadri, whose daughter Susan Kadri appeared for Std XII Science exams. “We’ll do our best to vacate the stay to get justice,” he added. Calling the order a temporary set back, Suresh Patel, whose daughter is also seeking certified copies, says, “We’s follow the legal course of action and fight it to the end. The students will wait for a permanent decision, ushering transparency and accountablity on part of the Board.”
Students have also found support in Harinesh Pandya, a member of Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, who had earlier argued the students’ case before the information commission. Talking to Newsline he says, “Being a public authority which runs on our money, the board must be accountable for its doings. I don’t see why they are shunning their responsibility to be transparent and accountable.