Case laws & Appeals of Decisions of the IP Office
Rajeev Kumar v. Central Information Commission (CIC) & Ors
10 December 2024, Delhi High Court
Rajeev Kumar filed an RTI request seeking access to a PhD thesis from Jamia Millia Islamia University (JMIU). The university denied the request under Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, claiming that the thesis contained commercially sensitive and intellectual property-protected information. The Central Information Commission (CIC) upheld this denial, prompting Kumar’s legal challenge.
The Court’s ruling:
- As per UGC and JMIU regulations, all doctoral theses must be published on INFLIBNET for academic transparency.
- The court ruled that a thesis is an academic document, not commercial intellectual property, and should not be withheld from public access.
- Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act would be inapplicable as JMIU failed to prove that disclosure would harm any commercial or competitive interest, making the exemption unjustified.