RTI SECTION 8 i H

Since the application has been received before filling charge sheet, the application was not entertained.

Sir, After filing chargeshert by CBI I applied RTI.More than two months have passed, and according to media reports, the CBI has submitted the chargesheet. Nevertheless, the Investigating Officer (IO) remains unresponsive, the court registry is uncooperative, and my RTI application regarding the chargesheet submission date was rejected.

In a situation where the chargesheet has been filed and yet your RTI request is rejected under section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act, which excludes information that could obstruct the ongoing investigation, this may seem conflicting. Nevertheless, there is a possibility that following the filing of the chargesheet the officials might debate that releasing specific information could affect the ongoing investigation or the legal proceedings linked with it.

As per Section 8(1)(h) of the Right to Information Act, the details of the information can be held back if disclosure of it could interfere with the investigation and prosecution.However, the public authority must give particular reasoning for denying the asked information. Investigation or prosecution if still active, after the charge sheet is filed  then this provision is still applicable.

However, with the progression of the case, you can appeal against this decision under section 19(1) Of the RTI Act. With this, you can argue that after filing of the chargesheet, the case ceases to be in the investigative stage. It may be valuable to emphasize the points that certain courts have ruled that pure invocation of Section 8(1)(h) without giving out a complete justification is not sufficient.

In different cases, the accused party or their legal representatives are authorised to have the copies of the charge sheet and other pertinent documents through the process of the court. Filing an RTI is not needed if you can get a hold of these documents as a legal right during the trial or the investigation proceedings.