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In an order aimed at bringing about transparency and enhancing public trust in recruitment processes, the Central Information Commission has directed the National Green Tribunal to furnish caste-certificates of candidates selected in a recruitment. <\/p>\n

The case arises out of a petition filed under the Right to Information Act, 2005, by V. Murugesh of Tamil Nadu seeking to know whether the reservation system was followed in the recruitment notified in 2023 and calling for caste certificates of the candidates who had qualified in the process, marks obtained by them. etc., While confirming that the rule of reservation was followed, the NGT declined to share caste-certificates of the selected candidates saying that it was third party information.<\/p>\n

Passing orders in the case, Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari set aside the decision of the NGT claiming exemption under Section 8(1)(j) of the Act. He said disclosure of such information would dispel the lingering doubts about wrongdoings in the public recruitment process. In the present case, sharing the information requested was not only justified but necessary to ensure that ineligible candidates were not selected in the place of the eligible ones.<\/p>\n

Promote transparency <\/h4>\n

Noting that the information sought pertained to public recruitment, he said maximum disclosure was necessary to promote transparency and accountability in the respondent organisation. Moreover, the denial of caste certificates of selected candidates under Section 8(1)(j) was not sustainable when the recruitment was conducted under the reserved category. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe very purpose of reservation-based selection mandates verification and disclosure of caste-based eligibility, which in this context, becomes a matter of public record. However, sensitive personal data such as addresses or signatures may be redacted,\u201d Mr. Tiwari said in his order.<\/p>\n

The CIC relied on the judgment of the Bombay High Court in the Onkar Dattatray Kalmankar Vs. PIO, Registrar, District and Sessions Court, Pune and Others case wherein it was stated that the marks obtained by candidates in a selection process could not be held back as \u201cpersonal information\u201d and furnishing such information would also not cause an unwarranted invasion of the individual\u2019s privacy. <\/p>\n

Where a recruitment process commenced with public advertisement inviting applications from eligible candidates, the disclosure of marks obtained by the candidates participating in such a process would amount to personal information, the disclosure of which had no relationship to any public activity or interest. \u201cGiven that such selection processes must be transparent and above board, it would be in the public interest to disclose such information rather than withhold it and allow any doubts about the process (however unjustified such doubts may be) to linger,\u201d the court had ruled.<\/p>\n

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Published – April 17, 2025 01:03 am IST<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In an order aimed at bringing about transparency and enhancing public trust in recruitment processes, the Central Information Commission has directed the National Green Tribunal to furnish caste-certificates of candidates selected in a recruitment. The case arises out of a petition filed under the Right to Information Act, 2005, by V. Murugesh of Tamil Nadu […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-243790","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories"},"yoast_head":"\n