Chhattisgarh High Court rules inquiry records cannot be denied for self-defence if no third-party…

This digest summarizes six Right to Information (RTI) rulings from September 2026 issued by various High Courts and the Central Information Commission. It covers questions regarding the disclosure of inquiry records, government service details, CCTV footage, and answer scripts, as well as the imposition of penalties and fees.

The rulings concern public authorities including the Chhattisgarh High Court, Uttarakhand High Court, Allahabad High Court, Gujarat High Court, and the Central Information Commission (CIC). The applicants involved include individuals seeking records for self-defence, a husband seeking information on his estranged wife's government service, an RTI applicant seeking CCTV footage, a student seeking answer scripts, and an information seeker requesting third-party assistance in inspecting documents.

• Denial of inquiry records is impermissible if no third-party privacy is involved (Chhattisgarh HC).
• Denial of information regarding an estranged wife's government service is upheld due to privacy (Uttarakhand HC).
• Penalty under Section 20 requires a categorical finding of mala fide withholding (Chhattisgarh HC).
• CCTV footage covered by Section 8(1)(g) cannot be supplied directly to the applicant (Allahabad HC).
• Information seekers cannot rely on third parties to inspect documents (Gujarat HC).
• Universities cannot levy internal fees for providing answer scripts under RTI (CIC).

Written from the document by AI, and checked against it. The original below is authoritative.

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