RAW exempt under RTI Act unless human rights or corruption is an issue: Delhi HC

India’s external intelligence agency, RAW, is an exempt organization under the Right to Information Act and unless the information sought by an RTI applicant relates to human rights or corruption issues, it is not likely to be disclosed, the Delhi High Court said.

The court order followed a request by an RTI applicant for the disclosure of information about the residences of a former RAW boss for a specified period.

The court refused to interfere with the CIC’s order refusing to provide the information to the petitioner and noted that Section 24 of the Right to Information Act states that it does not apply to the security and intelligence organizations specified in its Second List and Research and Analysis Wing. (RAW) was one of them.

“RAW is an organization specifically named in the Schedule to the RTI Act. It is an exempt organization. Unless the nature of the information sought relates to human rights or corruption-related issues, the information may not be disclosed,” Judge Prathiba M Singh said in a recent order.

“In the present petition, the nature of the information requested, that is, the residences of the subject person who was the head of RAW, which is a security agency, would not be covered by the waiver. Given the above discussion, the contested order does not deserve to be interfered with,” the court ordered.

In January 2012, petitioner Nisha Priya Bhatia had sought “certified copies of the government housing allocation applications made by Shri SK Tripathi; IPS (UP; 1972) between 1986 and the present” of the Directorate of Assets, Government of India under the RTI Act.

When the matter reached the CIC after the petitioner received no response, the CIC in 2017 concluded that RAW was covered by Section 24 as an exempt organization and no human rights or corruption case is brought in the present case to attract The exeption.

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