PhD Thesis Not Containing Commercially Sensitive, Proprietary Information Not Exempt From Disclosure Under RTI Act: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has recently held that PhD thesis which does not contain commercially sensitive or proprietary information is not exempted from disclosure under Section 8(1)(d) of Right to Information Act. 2005.

Justice Sanjeev Narula held that merely asserting that the thesis involves intellectual property or holds commercial value is not sufficient and there must be clear and cogent evidence that its disclosure would harm the competitive position of a third party.

“It is undisputed that a PhD thesis is often an intellectual property, comprising of both the university's investment in resources or funding and the scholar's original work. This creation enjoys protection under the Copyright Act, 1957, which grants the author exclusive rights to control reproduction, distribution, and adaptation of their work. However, in the Court's opinion, mere existence of copyright does not automatically justify invoking Section 8(1)(d) to deny access to the information,” the Court said.

The Court said that the decision to disclose PhD theses under the garb of RTI Act requires balancing the need for transparency and public interest against the protection of sensitive information. Each case would need evaluation on its own merits considering the specific content of the thesis and the context of the request, the court said.

“Thus, there is no evidence on record to suggest that the PhD thesis contains commercially sensitive or proprietary information that could harm any party's market standing. The fact that the PhD thesis was once publicly available makes the subsequent denial of access appear arbitrary and unjustified,” the Court said.

It added that copyright law is not intended to curtail access to information but rather it safeguards an author's economic and moral rights.

Justice Narula made the observations while setting aside an order passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC) denying information to the petitioner on thesis of a scholar of Jamia Millia Islamia University.

It added: “In effect, the Respondents have failed to meet the requirements of Section 8(1)(d), and the CIC's reliance on speculative and unsubstantiated arguments renders the impugned order unsustainable.”

The Court noted that a thesis some times may contain sensitive or proprietary information and Universities may restrict access to the same until a patent application is filed to prevent the disclosure of potentially patentable inventions.

“Section 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act may, in such cases, serve as a valid safeguard to prevent competitive harm to the researcher or institution. Similarly, Section 8(1)(e), which exempts disclosure of information held in a fiduciary capacity, could apply where the university holds the thesis as a trustee of the scholar's proprietary rights,” the Court said.

However, it added that even in such situations, the exemption is not absolute and the RTI Act expressly provides that larger public interest can override such exemptions.

“Where no demonstrable harm to intellectual property or competitive interests is evident, withholding access to a thesis violates the purpose of academic research and the spirit of transparency enshrined in the RTI Act. Moreover, the author of a thesis, having submitted it to a public university, relinquishes the right to withhold its disclosure, as it becomes part of the academic repository of the institution,” the Court said.

The court thus directed Public Information Officer1 of Jamia Millia Islamia University to provide the information sought under the RTI application within a period of two weeks.

Case Title: RAJEEV KUMAR v. CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION (CIC) THROUGH CPIO & ORS.

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