Chhattisgarh High Court: Inquiry records must be disclosed for self-defense

This digest summarizes five Right to Information (RTI) rulings from September 2026 issued by Indian High Courts and the Central Information Commission. It covers questions regarding the disclosure of inquiry records, government service details, CCTV footage, document inspection rights, and fees for academic records.

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-defense, a husband seeking information on his estranged wife's government service, an RTI applicant seeking CCTV footage, an information seeker wishing to use third-party aid for inspection, and a student seeking answer scripts from a university.

• Inquiry records for self-defense cannot be denied under Sections 8(1)(c) and 8(1)(j) if no third-party privacy is involved.
• Denial of information regarding an estranged spouse's government service is upheld if privacy outweighs the request.
• Penalty under Section 20 of the RTI Act requires a categorical finding of mala fide withholding.
• CCTV footage covered by Section 8(1)(g) cannot be supplied directly to the applicant but may be accessed via court or commission.
• Information seekers are impermissibly restricted from using third-party aid to inspect documents under the RTI Act.
• Universities cannot levy internal fees for providing copies of answer scripts sought under the RTI Act.

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

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