RAIPUR: After nearly two decades of legal battle, a PSC aspirant has received significant relief, with the Chhattisgarh high court directing the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) to provide copies of the answer sheets from the 2005 examination under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The Single Bench Judge of the high court, Justice Bibhu Datta Guru, disposed of the petition, referencing Supreme Court decisions in the case of Kerala Public Service Commission and Others vs.State Information Commission and Another (2016 3 SCC 417), and the recent ruling in Mradul Mishra vs Chairman, UP Public Service Commission, Allahabad, and Another. The court ruled that the applicant, being an information seeker, is entitled to obtain copies of his answer sheets for all seven question papers of the State Service (Main) Exam-2005 (Optional Subjects: Public Administration & Anthropology) under Roll No. 520277, as ordered by the Chhattisgarh state information commission.
The CGPSC is required to provide all answer sheets from the 2005 PSC exam under the RTI Act. After 19 years, the candidate has finally received this relief from the High Court.
Praveen Chandra Srivastava, a resident of Durg, appeared for the PSC 2005 examination. After the RTI act came into effect in 2005, he requested the answer sheets of the main exam under its provisions. However, the CGPSC’s Public Information Officer rejected his application. Subsequently, Praveen appealed to the State Information Commission, which, in 2015, ruled in his favour and directed the CGPSC to provide the answer sheets.
CGPSC challenged the State Information Commission’s decision in the high court in 2015. During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, Gaurav Singhal, cited the aforementioned Supreme Court rulings.
As a result, the high court declared the candidate entitled to the answer sheets and directed CGPSC to provide them, reiterating the state information commission’s order to release all seven papers of the 2005 PSC exam to the candidate.
