Delhi HC directs UPSC to reveal marks

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Tuesday directed the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to make public the cut-off marks obtained by candidates in preliminary test of the civil services examination.

"Disclosure of information as directed by CIC cannot harm the interest of UPSC and any third party. The approach of CIC in this matter has been in correct persepective," Justice B D Ahmed said while upholding the order of the CIC which had directed the Commission to reveal the marks.

The Court also rejected the contention of the Government body that the scaling system followed by it was very confidential and it was their intellectual property which could not be revealed to anybody.

"For scaling system nothing further needs to be done, as in my view the same already stands disclosed by the UPSC in the affidavit filed by it in the Supreme Court," the Court said after going through the various affidavits filed by it in the Apex Court.

"Information sought does not fall within the exception of intellectual property. The data collected by the UPSC is of an event which has already taken place and its disclosure would have no bearing whatsoever on the next year's examination," Justice Ahmed said.

Justice Ahmed, before whom the Commission had placed its method of scaling system in a sealed envelope, had found there was nothing special in it and the same system was followed all over the world.

The Bench also directed the Commission to provide model answer paper to the students. "The UPSC may have some rights over them , the disclosure would be in larger public interest. Candidates have the right to know where they went wrong. One sure way of informing them in this regard is to disclose the model answer."