Junior-to-senior file notings no longer secret

NEW DELHI: File notings by a junior government officer to his superior can be disclosed under the Right to Information Act, the Delhi high court has held.

Unless such notings are secret or protected by any other law, these can’t be treated as third party information under clause 11 of RTI Act, the court clarified in a recent ruling.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru noted that “the reasoning, that the notings or information generated by an employee during the course of his employment is his information and thus has to be treated as relating to a third party, is flawed.”


Section 11 deals with information which relates to, or has been supplied by a third party and has been treated as confidential by that third party. In these cases the information officer has to give a written notice to such third party that an RTI plea has been recieved seeking the information and that the information officer intends to disclose the information or record. The objection or consent of the third party is often key in the final decision of the information officer if the information can be revealed.

While dealing with one such case where the Union home ministry refused information on file notings Justice Vibhu Bakhru said, “The contention that notings made by a junior officer for use by his superiors is third party information, which requires compliance of Section 11 of the Act, is unmerited.”