NEW DELHI: Holding that examinees are entitled to see their answer sheets of competitive exams, the Supreme Court has directed Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission to allow candidates to inspect their answer sheet without disclosing the identity of the examiner.

A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta set aside the order of Allahabad high court which had held that examinees did not have right to see answer sheet. Referring to earlier verdicts of the apex court, the bench said that there was no doubt that candidates were entitled to inspect the answer sheet.

The court passed the order on a petition filed by Mradul Mishra against HC order. Advocate Meenesh Dubey, appearing for the petitioner, contended that HC erred in passing the order as it was contradictory to apex court’s earlier judgement which had held that examining body did not hold the evaluated answer sheets in a fiduciary capacity and the examinees were entitled to see the answer sheet under Right to Information Act.

Agreeing with Dubey’s contention, the bench said, “In our opinion, permitting a candidate to inspect the answer sheet does not involve any public interest nor does it affect the efficient operation of the government. There are issues of confidentiality and disclosure of sensitive information that may arise, but those have already been taken care of in the case of Aditya Bandopadhyay where it has categorically been held that the identity of the examiner cannot be disclosed for reasons of confidentiality. That being the position, we have no doubt that the appellant is entitled to inspect answer sheets”.

