Exemptions from Disclosure
Chapter Sixty-One
Syllabus topic 4.4, implicit in "Object, Application, Definitions and Salient Features of the Act"
Pages 368 to 374 of 396
In one line
The Act lists ten kinds of information a public authority need not give, one further ground of rejection, and a list of organisations to which it does not apply, and over all of them stands a public interest override.
In the words a student can write in an exam: section 8(1) of the Right to Information Act 2005 sets out ten heads of exemption from the obligation to disclose; section 9 permits rejection where disclosure would infringe a copyright subsisting in a person other than the State; and section 24 excludes the intelligence and security organisations listed in the Second Schedule, save in respect of allegations of corruption and human rights violations. Section 8(2) contains a public interest override, under which a public authority may allow access notwithstanding the Official Secrets Act 1923 and notwithstanding any exemption in section 8(1), if the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests; section 8(3) makes information more than twenty years old disclosable subject to three clauses; and section 10 requires severance so that the non-exempt part of a record is given.
The ten exemptions in section 8(1)
Section 8(1) opens: notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, there shall be no obligation to give any citizen the following.
| Clause | What is exempt |
|---|---|
| (a) | Information whose disclosure would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with a foreign State, or lead to incitement of an offence |
| (b) | Information expressly forbidden to be published by any court or tribunal, or whose disclosure may constitute contempt of court |
| (c) | Information whose disclosure would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or a State Legislature |
| (d) | Information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, whose disclosure would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants disclosure |
| (e) | Information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants disclosure |
| (f) | Information received in confidence from a foreign Government |
| (g) | Information whose disclosure would endanger the life or physical safety of any person, or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes |
| (h) | Information which would impede the process of investigation or the apprehension or prosecution of offenders |
| (i) | Cabinet papers, including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers, with two provisos |
| (j) | Information which relates to personal information |
The provisos to clause (i)
The first proviso is important and is often missed: the decisions of the Council of Ministers, the reasons for them, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken and the matter is complete or over. So cabinet secrecy protects deliberation while the matter is live, not the decision afterwards. The second proviso adds that matters coming under the exemptions specified in the section shall not be disclosed.
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