There is no obligation
to give any citizen:
(i) information,
disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of
India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State,
relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence;
(ii) information which
has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal or
the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court;
(iii) information, the
disclosure of which would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the
State Legislature;
(iv) information
including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the
disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party,
unless larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information;
(v) information available to a person in his
fiduciary relationship, unless larger public interest warrants the disclosure
of such information;
(vi) information
received in confidence from foreign Government;
(vii) information, the
disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or
identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law
enforcement or security purposes;
(viii) information
which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution
of offenders;
(ix) cabinet papers
including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and
other officers:
However
the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on
the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the
decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over. Further that
those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall
not be disclosed;
(x) information which
relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship to
any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of
the privacy of the individual unless larger public interest justifies the
disclosure of such information:
However
the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or a State Legislature
shall not be denied to any person.
A public authority may
allow access to information:
(i) if public interest
in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests, notwithstanding
anything in the Official Secrets Act, 1923
nor any of the exemptions permissible;
(ii) Subject to the other provisions of section 8(1) (a), (c)
and (i), any information relating to any occurrence, event or matter which has
taken place, occurred or happened twenty years before the date on which any
request is made under section 6 shall be provided to any person making a
request under that section
However where
any question arises as to the date from which the said period of twenty years
has to be computed, the decision of the Central Government shall be final,
subject to the usual appeals provided for in this Act.