Many CA students continue to have doubts about whether old answer books are still available with ICAI.
A reply received under the Right to Information Act, 2005 puts this issue to rest.
What the RTI Reply Says#
The RTI reply issued by CPIO ICAI clearly states that:
Answer books pertaining to November 2020 have been weeded out in accordance with the Institute’s answer book retention (weeding-out) policy.
This means that no physical or scanned answer books for Nov-2020 examinations are available with ICAI as of now.
Why This Matters#
- Students should not expect copies of old answer books beyond the prescribed retention period
- Filing RTIs for such records will not yield documents once they are legally destroyed
- This also reassures students that marks cannot be altered post destruction of records
Official RTI Status Screenshot#
Final Note#
Before filing RTI applications related to answer book copies or re-verification, it is important to understand ICAI’s record retention policy to avoid unnecessary effort and confusion.
Transparency works best when expectations are aligned with official rules.
