Six petitions are currently pending before the Delhi High Court. (Express File Photo)The Delhi High Court Thursday reserved verdict in a bunch of pleas pertaining to the disclosure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree from Delhi University (DU).Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, representing the varsity, continued to oppose the disclosure of such information, telling Justice Sachin Datta that he does not “trust the motive and intentions” of the information seekers while clarifying that he has “no reservation” in showing the degree to the court, “but will not expose it to the scrutiny of strangers”.“…in principle such information cannot be sought. This is not the object for which RTI (Act) has been envisioned…The authority will have to decide what is your interest, you’re trying to use it for political purpose…We have it but we will not share…there are quite a few free people in this world who will seek one information or another,” Mehta argued.Six petitions are currently pending before the Delhi High Court. Among these, four petitions have been filed by DU, challenging a December 2016 order from the Central Information Commission (CIC). This order directed DU to allow inspection of the relevant register containing complete information about all students who passed the Bachelor of Arts (BA) program in 1978. This information includes students’ roll numbers, names, fathers’ names, and marks obtained. Additionally, DU was asked to provide certified copies of the pages from the register to RTI applicants requesting this information.Among the four petitions by DU, one also challenges a CIC order of December 2016 whereby it had directed the public authority to recover an amount of Rs 25,000 from the salary payable to the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) in five equal monthly instalments for rejecting an RTI application for not paying the RTI fee. DU’s pleas are against the various RTI applicants, including one Neeraj Kumar, Mohd Irsad, and R K Jain.Another petition is by the Central Board of Secondary Education against one Mohd Nashadudin and others, where it challenged a January 2017 CIC order to facilitate inspection of the relevant records and provide certified copies of the documents selected free of cost, except personal details in admit card and mark sheet. Nashadudin sought copies of PM Modi’s admit card and marksheet in an RTI application in 2015.A sixth petition by Delhi-based lawyer Mohd Irsad is challenging the rejection of his RTI application seeking information about PM Modi’s degree. The application was rejected on the grounds of non-payment of the RTI fee to the authority concerned at the appropriate time.Story continues below this adMehta had earlier told Justice Datta that a university keeps students’ degree and marksheets in a fiduciary relationship and degree “is personal information for a student”.While reserving its verdict, the court permitted the parties to file written submissions within a week.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:delhi high court