The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to make public the archives of its question papers for MBBS entrance examination for the past 20 years. The commission has directed AIIMS to make the disclosures before October 10.

The direction came after the premier medical institute objected to the disclosure of information to a RTI applicant, saying the question papers were original “literary” works of experts, the copyright of which was vested with the AIIMS.

Citing exemption clauses of the transparency law, the AIIMS said it was under no obligation to disclose them unless larger public warrants them to be disclosed. It also said experts who prepared these papers had special rights as per Copyrights Act and the institute was protecting these rights.

It also added that these papers were held in fiduciary capacity with AIIMS by the experts who prepared them, hence cannot be disclosed. Rejecting the contentions of the AIIMS, Information Commissioner said exemption clause of the RTI Act regarding copyright information is attracted only when disclosure would harm competitive position of third party and not of the medical institute itself.

“It is apparent that AIIMS is not a commercial body that competes with other organisations. Further, it is stated that it does not appear that these experts are in a competitive business such that disclosure of these question papers along with their keys could harm their competitive position,” Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi pointed out.