The Delhi High Court holds that personal information of employees cannot be disclosed under the RTI Act       

The respondent filed a Right to Information (“RTI”) application before the Public Information Officer (“PIO”), Directorate of Education, seeking information such as service book of employees, names of presently working employees, promotion orders, etc. from Ryan Internation School i.e. the petitioner. The PIO denied the disclosure on the grounds that the petitioner school does not fall within the purview of the RTI Act as it is not a public authority. An appeal was preferred by the respondent before the Central Information Commission (“CIC”), which directed the petitioner to provide the information. The petitioner school challenged the decision of CIC vide W.P.(C) 8984/2019. The petitioner contended that the information directed to be disclosed is the personal information of its employees, exempted from disclosure under the RTI Act. The court allowed the petition and held that the information sought pertains to sensitive personal information and the order of CIC is unsustainable and accordingly set aside.