Rajasthan High Court upheld the State’s decision denying a woman access to her husband’s salary details under the RTI Act. The court ruled that such personal financial information cannot be disclosed, protecting privacy over transparency.
The Rajasthan High Court confirmed the State’s decision to deny a woman access to her husband’s salary details under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Justice Kuldeep Mathur dismissed the plea filed by the wife, who contested the rejection of her RTI application.
The Court stated,
“Disclosure of such information, in the absence of any overriding public interest, has no relationship with any public activity or public interest,”
The woman had requested copies of pay slips and information about the salary of her husband, who worked in the Bhilwara police department.
However, her RTI request was denied by the relevant authority on the grounds that the information was “personal” and pertained to a third party, thus exempt from release under the RTI Act. The Rajasthan State Information Commission later affirmed this decision.
In response, the wife took her case to the High Court, but the Court found no illegality in the State’s refusal to disclose the information.
The Court’s decision was supported by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of Girish Ramchandra Deshpande vs. Central Information Commission & ors., which stated that information regarding an employee’s performance is primarily a matter between the employee and the employer, governed by service regulations, and is classified as “personal information.”
As a result, the High Court determined that there was no merit in the writ petition.
Advocate Gopal Lal Acharya represented the petitioner.
The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 is an Indian law that allows every citizen to access information from the government. It promotes transparency, accountability, and helps prevent corruption.
Under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, the term “personal information” mainly appears in Section 8(1)(j). This section allows the government to deny information if it is purely personal and has no public interest.
Case Title: Smt. Kanta Kumawat v State of Rajasthan
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