A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court has held that the Institute of Company Secretaries of India ( ICSI ) cannot charge a fee for revaluation if the certified copies were asked through Right to Information Act, 2005.
The respondent appeared in the final examination for the Company Secretary course conducted by the ICSI. On being unsuccessful in qualifying for the exam, the appellant made an application under the RTI exam for the inspection of his answer sheets and subsequently, sought certified copies of the same from the appellant. The appellant, Institute thereafter has demanded Rs.500/per answer sheet payable for the supply of a certified copy of answer book(s) and Rs.450/per answer book for providing inspection thereof respectively as per Guideline No.3 notified by the statutory council of the appellant. The respondent obtained the said information under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
The Institute said that the fee is payable under Guideline No. 3 of the Guideline, Rules and Procedures for Providing Inspection and/or Supply of Certified Copy of Answer Book(s) to Students, framed by the Examination Committee of appellant’s statutory Council at its 148th Meeting held on 14.08.2013.
The bench comprising Justice NV Ramana and Justice Abdul Azeez held that “Guideline no.3 of the appellant does not take away from Rule 4, The Right to Information (Regulation of Fees and Cost) Rules, 2005 which also entitles the candidates to seek inspection and certified copies of their answer scripts. In our opinion, the existence of these two avenues is not mutually exclusive and it is up to the candidate to choose either of the routes. Thus, if a candidate seeks information under the provisions of the Right to Information, then payment has to be sought under the Rules therein, however, if the information is sought under the Guidelines of the appellant, then the appellant is at liberty to charge the candidates as per its guidelines.”
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