NEW DELHI: Personal information of employees, including service records, promotion documents, and details of financial benefits, cannot be disclosed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Delhi High Court has said.
The observation came in response to a writ petition filed by Ryan International School challenging an order by the Central Information Commission (CIC) that directed the school to disclose its employees’ service details.
The court, while setting aside the CIC’s order, emphasised that there was no evidence of any larger public interest that justified the disclosure of such sensitive information.
“The CIC has directed the Directorate of Education to call upon schools under its regulatory capacity to furnish certain information. However, the order does not consider the fact that the information sought pertains to sensitive personal information and service records of the employees,” noted Justice Sanjeev Narula during the recent hearing.
The case began in April 2017, when Anuj Kumar Sharma filed an RTI application seeking information regarding the service books and financial benefits of employees at Ryan International School, Mayur Vihar.
The Directorate of Education (DoE), to whom the RTI was submitted, forwarded the request to the school, stating it did not hold the information. Dissatisfied with the response, Sharma escalated the matter, leading the CIC to order the school to provide the requested details.
Ryan International School contested the order, arguing that as a private unaided institution, it does not fall within the purview of the RTI Act. The school further contended that the requested information constituted “personal information,” which is protected under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.
Justice Narula upheld the school’s stance, citing the Supreme Court’s precedent in Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. Central Information Commissioner, which states that employee performance and financial details are personal and exempt from disclosure unless there is a demonstrated larger public interest.