Bilaspur: The Chhattisgarh High Court has given an important decision regarding the Right to Information (RTI) and the right to personal privacy.

A single bench of the High Court has clarified that personal documents like marriage registration application, date of birth, address, photograph, Aadhaar or other identity card of a person cannot be made available to any third party under RTI unless there is a solid basis of wider public interest behind it.

A single bench of Justice Sachin Singh Rajput said that the purpose of the RTI Act is to bring transparency in government functioning, but it cannot be used to obtain personal information of any citizen.

Citing Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, the court said that personal information can be disclosed only if there is a larger public interest involved.

The case pertained to a petition filed by Ambikapur resident DK Soni, seeking through RTI, copies of marriage registration applications, orders and attached identity cards of two persons from Surajpur district.

Rejecting this demand, the High Court talked about giving constitutional protection to the confidentiality of personal documents.

During the hearing, the court also expressed displeasure with the attitude of the State Information Commission, stating that the commission's role is not merely to advise officials on training, but to determine whether the information sought is legally available.

On this basis, the High Court cancelled the order of the Information Commission.

The court has directed the State Information Commission to hear both the parties and give a fresh and legally compliant decision in the matter within 90 days.

This decision is being considered an important judicial order regarding the protection of personal data, clarity on the scope of RTI and accountability of appellate bodies.