RAW is exempted under RTI Act unless the issue concerns human rights or corruption: Delhi High Court

A view of Delhi High Court, in New Delhi. File
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

The Delhi High Court has reiterated that unless the nature of information sought relates to human rights or corruption related issues, information on India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), is not liable to be disclosed.

“RAW is an organisation which is specifically mentioned in the Section Schedule to the RTI (Right to Information) Act. It is an exempt organisation,” Justice Prathiba M. Singh said in an order passed on April 26.

The High Court’s observation came while declining to interfere with an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) refusing to supply information relating to RAW to former RAW officer Nisha Priya Bhatia.

Ms. Bhatia had sought details of applications for allotment of government accommodation made by a former RAW chief during a certain period. In response to her RTI query, the Directorate of Estates, Government of India had responded: “The application form contained some service details whose exposure might not be in functional interest of the organization known as RAW”.

Before the High Court, she had challenged the October 30, 2017 order of the CIC, by which it dismissed her appeal, holding that she was not entitled to receive the information sought. The CIC had reasoned that RAW is covered by Section 24 of RTI Act as an exempt organisation, and no case of human rights or corruption was made out in the present case to attract the exception.

Section 24 of the RTI Act provides that the Act does not apply to the security and intelligence organisations specified in the Second Schedule of the Act. RAW is one of the organisations specified in the Second Schedule.

However, the first proviso to Section 24 provides an exception to the exemption provided in Section 24 if the information sought pertains to allegations of corruption and human rights violations.