The Central Information Commission, CIC, has issued a major order to the Central Board of Secondary Education, CBSE, to give evaluated answer scripts to students under the Right to Information (RTI) Act at the low photocopying rates mentioned in the RTI Rules, 2012. Along with this, the Commission advised CBSE to change its circular dated May 19, 2025. It stated that a rule in the circular, which stopped students who took answer sheets under RTI from asking for revaluation, is legally wrong and goes against the goal of the transparency law.
High Fees Block Student Revaluation
The order came after a Class 10 student filed an appeal. The candidate wanted photocopies of his answer sheets under the RTI Act, 2005. The candidate pointed out that CBSE's regular system for revaluation was very expensive.
- CBSE charged ₹500 rupees per subject for answer sheet copies, which added up to ₹2,500 rupees for five subjects.
- Students also had to pay ₹2,500 rupees for mark verification first, plus 100 rupees for every question they wanted to challenge.
- The total process could cost a student more than ₹10,000 rupees. This made it very hard for poor families to check their children's marks.
Although CBSE sent the scanned copies to the student by email, the board argued that its internal rules did not allow RTI applicants to ask for re-verification or revaluation afterwards.
Internal Rules Cannot Override RTI Law
The CIC rejected CBSE's arguments and ruled that the board cannot make internal guidelines that weaken the RTI Act. Citing Section 22 of the Act, the Commission explained that the RTI law holds higher authority over conflicting administrative rules. The Commission pointed to a 2019 Supreme Court judgment, which ruled that an institute's internal rules and the RTI law work together. Therefore, students who get their answer sheets through the RTI Act cannot be stopped from applying for formal revaluation.
The Commission warned CBSE officers to follow the rules carefully in the future and strictly charge only the basic RTI photocopying fees so that students can easily access their rights.
