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Supreme Court has taken into consideration the appeal of Kerala Public Service Commission against a 2011 Kerala High Court order directing it to make available all information including the identity of the examiner and have decided that revealing identity of examiners evaluating answer sheets in competitive exams under the RTI Act will lead to "dire consequences" and create "confusion and public unrest". The main reason behind the same is that unsuccessful candidates may try to seek revenge with examiners and may harm them.
"This may, further, create a situation where the potential candidates in the next similar exam, especially in the same state or in the same level will try to contact the disclosed examiners for any potential gain by illegal means in the potential exam", the court observed.
A bench of Justices MY Eqbal and Arun Mishra made these observations and said "We would like to point out that disclosure of identity of examiners is in the least interest of the general public and also any attempt to reveal the examiner's identity will give rise to dire consequences”
"Therefore, in our considered opinion revealing examiner's identity will only lead to confusion and public unrest. Hence, we are not inclined to agree with the decision of the Kerala High Court with respect to the second question," it said.
The apex court though upheld the high court order and said that keeping the transparency law in mind, answer sheets and details of interview marks can be and should be provided to the candidate as it is not something which a public authority keeps under a fiduciary capacity.
It said examinees are entitled to get scanned copies of their answer sheet of the written test and details of the interview marks under the transparency law.
The decision of disclosing the marks sheet to the students will also help the students to get a broader understanding as to where there marks have been deducted and will reduce further complications. Students can also judge their performance and said this practice would ensure a fair play in this competitive environment.
