The Supreme Court has ruled that the names of the members of an interview board, set up to select candidates for government jobs, cannot be divulged under the RTI Act as it may endanger their lives.
“The disclosure of names and addresses of the members of the interview board would ex facie endanger their lives or physical safety.
The possibility of a failed candidate attempting to take revenge on such persons cannot be ruled out,” a bench of justices Swatanter Kumar and S J Mukhopadhaya said.
The apex court set aside the order of the Patna High Court which had directed Bihar Public Service Commission to reveal the names and addresses of the members of the interview board which had cleared the names of candidate for job in Police Laboratory in Crime Investigation Department of the state.
The court said although the right to information is a basic and fundamental right, it is not uncontrolled and it has to be balanced with the right to privacy while directing a public authority to reveal information under the transparency law.
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