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VOL. 2, ISSUE 1 (2026)
Misuse of section 8 exemptions under The Right to Information Act, 2005: An empirical study of rejection trends and the failure of public interest overrides
Authors
Anthony Savio Herminio da Piedade Fernandes
Abstract
The Right to
Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) was enacted to operationalize transparency and
accountability as enforceable democratic rights in India. While the Act
establishes disclosure as the norm, exemptions under Section 8 were intended to
operate narrowly and exceptionally. Over time, however, these exemptions have
increasingly been misused by Public Information Officers (PIOs) as routine
instruments for denying information. This empirical study examines patterns in
the invocation of Section 8 exemptions, with particular emphasis on rejection
trends and the limited effectiveness of the public interest override under
Section 8(2). Drawing upon Central Information Commission (CIC) annual reports,
selected State Information Commission (SIC) databases, and an analysis of over
10,000 appellate decisions between 2019 and 2025, the study identifies a marked
rise in RTI denials following the 2019 amendments affecting Information
Commissions. The findings reveal that exemptions under Section 8(1)(j)
(personal information) account for approximately 35% of rejections, frequently
applied without the mandatory harm–public interest balancing test. Public
interest overrides succeed in only 5–10% of appeals, largely due to inadequate
training of PIOs, institutional risk aversion, and significant appellate
backlogs. The paper argues that the prevailing exemption culture has inverted
the RTI Act’s foundational presumption of disclosure. It concludes by proposing
legal, administrative, and technological reforms—including mandatory reasoned
orders, structured harm assessment matrices, strengthened penalties, and
AI-assisted scrutiny of RTI denials—to restore the Act’s democratic and
constitutional promise.
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Pages:7-9
How to cite this article:
Anthony Savio Herminio da Piedade Fernandes "Misuse of section 8 exemptions under The Right to Information Act, 2005: An empirical study of rejection trends and the failure of public interest overrides". International Journal of Research in All Subject, Vol 2, Issue 1, 2026, Pages 7-9
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