Modi Degree Row: Information Commissioner M S Acharyulu, who allowed the inspection of the BA degree records 1978 of Delhi University has lost his post in Human Resource and Development department. Now, the orders and complaints issued under the HRD ministry will be looked into by another Information Commissioner, Manjula Parashar, as per an order issued on Tuesday.
Modi Degree Row: ‘PM’s BA degree is authentic’ says DU Registrar
Acharyulu was removed from the post by teh Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur. As per the Delhi University, PM Narendra Modi also received his BA degree from the university in the year 1978.
Last year, the university had denied making the degree records public after an RTI applicant named Neeraj had asked for the same saying – “personal information of the students concerned, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest.” Neeraj had asked for the complete record of all the students who had apperaed for BA exam in 1978 and whether they passed the exam or not.
However, the Commission stated that the information regarding the recorrds of one’s degree is a matter of public interest and should thus be made public.
Acharyulu had said – “With regard to question whether disclosure of such identification related information causes invasion of privacy, or is that unwarranted invasion of privacy, the PIO has not put forward any evidence or explained possibility to show that disclosure of degree related information infringes the privacy or causes unwarranted invasion of privacy.”
Delhi University Registrar Tarun Das later told that PM Modi’s degree is authentic and they have checked teh records – “We have checked our records and it has been authenticated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s degree is authentic. He cleared the examination in 1978 and was awarded the degree in 1979.”
