Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. Central Information Commissioner
A public servant’s service record — memos, show-cause notices, censure or penalty orders, assets and income-tax returns — is “personal information” under Section 8(1)(j) and is normally exempt. The Court decided this on the clause as it stood before 13 November 2025; the clause now reads only “information which relates to personal information”, and a public-interest case now rests on Section 8(2) or, for records relating to or supplied by a third party, the proviso to Section 11(1).
Issue before the court
Whether a third party can obtain a public servant’s service-career details, assets and liabilities under the RTI Act, or whether this is “personal information” exempt under Section 8(1)(j).
Facts in brief
The applicant sought a government employee’s service record — memos, show-cause notices, orders of censure or punishment — and his movable and immovable assets, income-tax returns and gifts received. The CIC declined disclosure and the matter reached the Supreme Court.
Holding / decision
The Supreme Court held that such service-record details and personal financial information are “personal information” under Section 8(1)(j). The performance and conduct of an employee is essentially a matter between employee and employer, governed by service rules, with no relationship to any public activity or interest. It can be disclosed only if a larger public interest is shown — which the applicant had not.
A public servant’s service and personal-financial records are presumptively exempt personal information; on the clause as it then stood, the applicant had to demonstrate a larger public interest to unlock disclosure. Since 13 November 2025 that argument sits in Section 8(2) or, for records relating to or supplied by a third party, the proviso to Section 11(1), not in clause (j).
You generally cannot obtain another individual’s service record, assets or income-tax returns through RTI unless the public authority is satisfied, under Section 8(2) or the proviso to Section 11(1) for third-party records, that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm.
What RTI can help you get
- Your own service record and personal information
- Information where the public authority is satisfied, under Section 8(2) or the proviso to Section 11(1) for third-party records, that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm
- Aggregate or policy information that does not identify a specific individual’s private affairs
What RTI may not give you
- Another employee’s memos, show-cause notices or penalty orders without public interest
- A third party’s assets, liabilities or income-tax returns
- Purely personal information with no link to any public activity
When to cite this case
When seeking — or resisting — disclosure of another person’s service file, disciplinary record, assets or income-tax returns; or to frame a public-interest justification under Section 8(2) or, for records relating to or supplied by a third party, the proviso to Section 11(1), which is where that argument now sits.
Later developments / current status
Statutory update: clause (j) was substituted with effect from 13 November 2025 by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (section 44) and now reads only “information which relates to personal information”, so this judgment construed wording that is no longer in the Act; the public-interest tests that remain are Section 8(2) and, for third-party records, the proviso to Section 11(1). Girish Deshpande is the leading authority on Section 8(1)(j) and is widely followed. It has also drawn criticism for over-broad denials; later benches stress that the public-interest test must be genuinely applied rather than used as a blanket shield.
Source & verification
Related FileMyRTI services
Use RTI Dost to frame a public-interest justification, and the Deadline Clock to track your appeal.
Login With Google
Continue as Guest