Section 8 of RTI Act 2005: Exemption from Disclosure of Information
Section 8 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 sets out the grounds on which a public authority need not disclose information, alongside a public-interest override and special treatment for records relating to events more than 20 years old.
Important legal update: Section 8(1)(j) was substituted by Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, effective 13 November 2025. The former wording reproduced in older RTI articles is no longer the operative text. See the official commencement notification.
Section 8(1): Ten categories of exempt information
Section 8(1) begins with a non-obstante clause: notwithstanding anything contained in the RTI Act, there is no obligation to provide information falling within its specified categories. The following explains each clause without treating all exemptions as absolute.
Section 8(1)(a): National security and foreign relations
Disclosure prejudicial to India's sovereignty, integrity, security, strategic, scientific or economic interests, relations with a foreign State, or likely to incite an offence.
Section 8(1)(b): Court restrictions and contempt
Material expressly prohibited from publication by a court or tribunal, or whose disclosure may constitute contempt of court.
Section 8(1)(c): Legislative privilege
Information whose disclosure would breach the privilege of Parliament or a State Legislature.
Section 8(1)(d): Commercial confidence and intellectual property
Commercial confidence, trade secrets and intellectual property where disclosure would harm a third party's competitive position, unless the competent authority finds larger public interest warrants disclosure.
Section 8(1)(e): Fiduciary information
Information held in a fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority finds that larger public interest warrants disclosure.
Section 8(1)(f): Foreign government confidences
Information received in confidence from a foreign government.
Section 8(1)(g): Safety and confidential sources
Information that would endanger a person's life or physical safety, or identify a confidential source of assistance for law-enforcement or security purposes.
Section 8(1)(h): Investigation and prosecution
Information whose disclosure would impede investigation, apprehension or prosecution of offenders; a mere pending investigation does not automatically establish that disclosure would impede it.
Section 8(1)(i): Cabinet papers
Cabinet papers, including deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and officers. Decisions, reasons and supporting material must be made public after the decision is taken and the matter is complete or over, subject to the other exemptions.
Section 8(1)(j): Personal information - amended in 2025
The operative clause now reads: "information which relates to personal information". The previous wording concerning public activity, unwarranted invasion of privacy and the Parliament/Legislature proviso was replaced with effect from 13 November 2025.
Section 8(2): Public interest override
Notwithstanding the Official Secrets Act, 1923, or the exemptions in Section 8(1), a public authority may allow access where the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to protected interests. This provision requires consideration of competing interests; it does not mean that every request invoking public interest must automatically succeed. The changed text of Section 8(1)(j) should be read with this continuing statutory provision.
Section 8(3): Information about events more than 20 years old
Subject to Section 8(1)(a), (c) and (i), information relating to an occurrence, event or matter that took place 20 years before the date of an RTI request under Section 6 must be provided. If a dispute arises over the starting date for this 20-year period, the Central Government's decision is final, subject to the ordinary appeals under the Act.
How the exemptions work in practice
A public information officer should identify the specific statutory ground for withholding records rather than issuing a blanket refusal. Under Section 7(8), a rejection must state the reasons, appeal period and appellate authority. Where only part of a document is exempt, Section 10 (severability) allows access to the reasonably separable non-exempt portion. Third-party representations may be considered under Section 11. The applicant may pursue appeals under Section 19.
For context, see Section 6: Filing an RTI request, Section 5: Public Information Officers, and Section 2: Definitions.