NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has ruled that passport details and personal identification documents of a person cannot be disclosed to a third party under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
The high court emphasised that such information falls within the ambit of Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, which exempts personal data from disclosure unless it involves a larger public interest.
Justice Sachin Datta, while referring to previous judicial precedents, held that passport-related disclosures to a third party are legally restricted.
The court was hearing a plea by Rakesh Kumar, who had challenged an order by the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) regarding his RTI request for details about the issuance of a passport and travel document to a third party.
Kumar’s request was initially denied by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), and his first appeal was also rejected. The CIC later directed that the information could be provided if he furnished additional details required by the Regional Passport Office (RPO) to trace the records.
However, Kumar later sought enforcement of the order, alleging non-compliance.
Justice Datta dismissed Kumar’s plea, noting that the requested information was no longer available as records from 1984 to 1990 had been destroyed under the government’s policy.
The high court further reiterated that even if the records were available, the RTI Act expressly prohibits disclosure of personal data unless a compelling argument of public interest is demonstrated.
The high court concluded that Kumar was free to pursue any other legal remedies available to him but upheld the confidentiality of passport-related information under Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.