Background: why this RTI was filed
When a state higher education department is asked about a private university it regulates, one of two things happens. Either it answers from its own file, or it asks the university and passes the answer on. Which of the two occurs tells you something about what the regulator actually holds.
This RTI put six points to the Government of Gujarat about Sabarmati University, Ahmedabad. The reply from the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education records the second route.
| Document | Reply under the Right to Information Act, 2005 |
| Reference | No: ISC-7/Pri.Uni/RTI/2026/365 |
| Dated | 11/02/2026 |
| Authority | Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, University Branch, Block No. 12, Second Floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar – 382010 |
| Issued by | (P. J. Mehta), Public Information Officer and Senior Superintendent, University Branch, Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Gujarat, Gandhinagar |
| Application | application dated 01/08/2025, received by this office from the Education Department on 29/01/2026 |
| Institution | Sabarmati University, Ahmedabad, Gujarat |
What the document says
The covering letter is brief and precise about dates. The application is dated 01/08/2025. The Commissioner's office states that it received that application from the Education Department on 29/01/2026.
For points 1 to 6, the office states that the required information was requested from Sabarmati University, Ahmedabad by its letter dated 03/02/2026, and that the information received is being sent to the applicant with the reply. The enclosure is described on the letter as 'Sabarmati University Answer for your RTI'.
The reply ends with the appeal route: the Deputy Director in the same office, within thirty days of receipt.
Read as a chronology, the letter is self-explanatory. The Commissioner's office moved quickly once the file reached it — eight days to write to the university, thirteen to reply. The five and a half months before that sit between the application and its arrival at this office.
Key findings
The regulator did not hold the information
For all six points, the Commissioner's office had to ask the university rather than answer from its own records.
Nearly six months from application to reply
The application is dated 01/08/2025; the reply is dated 11/02/2026.
Almost all of that delay was before the file arrived
The office states it received the application from the Education Department only on 29/01/2026 — then wrote to the university on 03/02/2026 and replied on 11/02/2026, within a fortnight of receipt.
The university's answer is an enclosure
The substantive material is the enclosure titled “Sabarmati University Answer for your RTI”, which is not part of this covering letter.
Appeal route named
The Deputy Director in the same office is named as Appellate Authority, with a thirty-day window.
“The required information was requested from Sabarmati University, Ahmedabad vide this office letter dated 03/02/2026. The information received is being sent to you herewith.”
— Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Gujarat, No: ISC-7/Pri.Uni/RTI/2026/365, 11/02/2026
What employers and students should know
What this letter establishes is a route, not a fact about the university. The substantive answers are in the enclosure that came from the university itself, and anyone relying on them should read that enclosure rather than this covering letter.
It is also a useful indication of where certain information lives. For points of this kind about a Gujarat private university, the state office did not answer from its own records — it asked the institution. If you need information the university itself will not supply, the state file may not be an alternative source for it.
Finally, the dates are worth keeping. An application that takes almost six months to reach the office that can act on it is a fact about process, and it is on the record here in the department's own words.
- Read the enclosure — the university's own answer — rather than relying on this covering letter alone.
- If the enclosure is incomplete, the thirty-day appeal to the Deputy Director named in the reply is the route stated on the document.
- For information about recognition or degree specification rather than the university's internal records, the UGC holds that material independently.
- When filing with a state department, note which office is expected to act and address it directly where the rules allow.
- Keep the reply reference — No: ISC-7/Pri.Uni/RTI/2026/365 — with the enclosure it arrived with.
What this record shows:
- An RTI application dated 01/08/2025 reached the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education, Gujarat on 29/01/2026.
- For points 1 to 6 the office requested the information from Sabarmati University, Ahmedabad by letter dated 03/02/2026.
- The information received from the university was forwarded to the applicant with the reply of 11/02/2026.
- The Deputy Director in the same office is the named Appellate Authority, with a thirty-day window.
What it does not show:
- It does not itself state anything about Sabarmati University's recognition, courses, students or records.
- It does not reproduce the university's answer, which is a separate enclosure.
- It does not explain the period between 01/08/2025 and 29/01/2026.
- It records no finding, penalty or action against the university.
Every statement on this page is drawn from the official document described above. Readers should rely on the original document and the issuing authority for any decision.