This ruling has reopened a bigger conversation in India: Where do we draw the line between personal privacy and public accountability? Should voters have a right to verify the qualifications of their elected leaders? Or does privacy still apply, even when you’re the Prime Minister?
In a ruling that has stirred up debate across the country, the Delhi High Court on Monday decided that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s educational qualifications don’t need to be made public.
The court overturned an earlier order from the Central Information Commission (CIC), which had asked Delhi University to share details about Modi’s Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from 1978. The reason? The court says this kind of information counts as “personal” under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, and there’s no overriding public interest in revealing it.
Just Because You Hold Public Office Doesn’t Mean You Lose All Privacy
Justice Sachin Datta, who delivered the decision, made it clear: being a public figure doesn’t mean every detail of your life is up for public consumption.
“The fact that a person holds a public office does not, per se, render all personal information subject to public disclosure,” he said.
He added that academic records — like degrees and marks — are protected under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, which allows information to be withheld if it relates to personal matters and if there’s no larger public interest in disclosing it.
Smriti Irani’s School Records Also Stay Private
The same ruling also protected Union Minister Smriti Irani’s educational records. The court said the CBSE doesn’t have to release her Class X and XII exam documents, following a similar logic of privacy protection.
The Backstory: RTI Request From 2016
This whole case started back in 2016, when an RTI activist named Neeraj asked to see the list of students who passed their BA exams from Delhi University in 1978 — the year Modi claims he graduated. The CIC had agreed to let the records be inspected, but Delhi University challenged that decision in court and got a stay in early 2017.
Now, eight years later, the court has given its final say: those records stay sealed.
Opposition Leaders Cry Foul
Not surprisingly, the ruling hasn’t gone down well with opposition parties.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on X:
“It is simply incomprehensible why the educational degree details of this particular PM should be kept a complete secret when such details of everyone else have always been and continue to be public.”
He also blamed the 2019 amendments to the RTI Act, saying they were pushed through Parliament to block transparency.
TMC MP Saket Gokhale added his voice, writing:
“It’s fine if Modi has no degree. No big deal. What’s shameful is if he has lied about it.”
Privacy vs. Public Right to Know — The Bigger Question
This ruling has reopened a bigger conversation in India: Where do we draw the line between personal privacy and public accountability? Should voters have a right to verify the qualifications of their elected leaders? Or does privacy still apply, even when you’re the Prime Minister?
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