Answer sheets under RTI — before you pay for revaluation

The sequence most students get backwards: they pay for “rechecking” blind, get a two-line “no change” letter, and only then ask to see the sheet. Reverse it. The answer sheet costs ₹2 a page, shows exactly where marks were lost, and tells you whether revaluation has any point — most don't, and a surprising number do.

In Central Board of Secondary Education v. Aditya Bandopadhyay, (2011) 8 SCC 497, the Court held that an evaluated answer book of a public examination is “information” under the RTI Act, and every examinee has the right to inspect it and obtain certified copies, subject to the examining body's rules. It equally held there is no right to re-evaluation under RTI — the Act gives access to records, not a second opinion on them. Rechecking and revaluation remain what the board's or university's own statutes make of them.

Boards still try the old refusals — “third-party information”, “fiduciary record”, “exam confidentiality”. Each has been rejected. The sheet is about you, marked by an examiner the body appointed; it is the public authority's record, and you are entitled to it.

Subject: Application under §6(1), RTI Act 2005 — evaluated answer book

1. Certified copy of my evaluated answer book of [exam, subject, year], roll no. ____.
2. The marks awarded question-wise, and the marks awarded after moderation, if any.
3. The basis on which [question no.] was awarded [x] marks — copy of the marking scheme for that question.
4. Number of candidates who applied for rechecking in this subject, and how many saw a change.

Keep it to the sheet and the marks. Question 4 is the leverage point: offices hate producing their own rechecking statistics, and applications containing it move fast.

• CBSE, state boards — the board's CPIO at headquarters; both are public authorities. Online filing works on rtionline.gov.in where the board is listed
• State universities — the Registrar or the PIO in the exam branch; universities created by statute are public authorities under §2(h)
• Deemed and private universities — often still covered where substantially financed by government; if the CPIO refuses on status, the first appeal tests it
• Staff Selection Commission and similar bodies — see SSC CGL answer keys and RTI; the Commission's 2026 rules bar re-evaluation outright, making the answer-key copy the only check

1. Compare each question's marks with the published marking scheme — ask for the scheme in the same RTI
2. Totalling errors and unmarked answers are the commonest genuine finds; subjective-mark differences usually are not
3. If totalling is wrong, the body's own rechecking route must fix it — the sheet is your proof
4. If the sheet shows examiner error, revaluation under the body's rules is the route, with the copy as evidence

Real example. Kashvi Pathak's university result dropped 19 marks in one paper against her expectation. A ₹10 RTI produced the answer book: page 3 carried a totalling slip of 12 marks and one answer left unmarked. The rechecking application, with the certified copy attached, was allowed in three weeks — no advocate, no revaluation fee.

Refusals come in standard shapes, all answerable:

• “Fiduciary relationship” — rejected in Aditya Bandopadhyay itself; the examiner's relationship is with the board, not hidden from the candidate
• “Will compromise exam integrity” — the copy is given only to the examinee; marking schemes are public after results
• “Apply through the exam department's own process” — a departmental process cannot substitute for the statutory right; both can run

The first appeal goes within 30 days to the FAA; the second within 90 days to the Information Commission — the CIC for central bodies, the SIC for state boards and universities. Commissions have penalised boards for repeated refusals of answer-sheet copies.

• First appeal format and grounds
• Why RTIs get rejected — and the fixes

No. RTI gives you the evaluated sheet and the marking scheme; re-evaluation is available only if the board's or university's own rules provide it.

Yes — the right attaches to evaluated answer books of examinations conducted by public authorities, and statutory universities are public authorities under §2(h).

₹10 application fee, then ₹2 per page for the certified copy (rates are broadly uniform; check your state's page on this wiki).

30 days statutorily; exam branches often deliver in two to three weeks when the application quotes the 2011 judgment.

• SSC CGL — answer keys, marks and RTI
• IBPS exams — the bank-side RTI route
• File RTI online — the 12-step guide
• The RTI Playbook

• CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay, (2011) 8 SCC 497 — full judgment, Indian Kanoon
• RTI Act 2005, §2(f) (information), §7 (fees and timelines), §19 (appeals)

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026. The holding and its limits verified against the reported judgment; procedure consistent with the Act's statutory timelines.