The Delhi High Court, the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) were among the public authorities that rejected the highest number of RTI applications in 2024–25, according to the latest annual report of the Central Information Commission (CIC). The Ministry of Finance also recorded a significant number of denials.
As per the report, Section 8(1) of the Right to Information (RTI) Act — which allows exemption from disclosure on grounds such as national security and other protected interests — was invoked 28,924 times, accounting for nearly half (49.88 per cent) of all rejection grounds cited.
The Delhi High Court recorded the highest rejection rate among the top 20 authorities, rejecting 22.88 per cent of the 2,089 RTI applications it received during the year. The Supreme Court followed with a rejection rate of 13.73 per cent, denying 689 out of 5,017 applications.
Among major ministries, the Ministry of Home Affairs rejected 7,750 out of 58,130 applications, a rejection rate of 13.33 per cent — the highest in this category. The Ministry of Finance, one of the largest recipients of RTI requests with 2,20,283 applications, rejected 18,734, translating to 8.50 per cent.
The Ministry of Law and Justice reported a rejection rate of 7.14 per cent (1,330 of 18,638 applications), while the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology rejected 7.98 per cent of 10,134 applications.
In contrast, some departments with very high RTI volumes reported minimal rejection rates. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs received the highest number of applications at 2,54,657 but rejected only 351 (0.14 per cent). The Ministry of Education rejected 0.74 per cent of 1,34,025 applications, and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways rejected 0.70 per cent of 35,481 applications.
Regarding legal grounds, Section 24 — which exempts certain intelligence and security organisations — was invoked 8,251 times (14.23 per cent). Section 11, related to third-party information, was cited 519 times (0.90 per cent), and Section 9, concerning copyright restrictions, was invoked 232 times (0.40 per cent). Other provisions together accounted for 34.59 per cent of rejection grounds. The CIC noted that multiple sections may be cited in a single rejection.
Appeal data showed continued challenges to denials. The Ministry of Finance recorded 26,219 first appeals and 3,966 second appeals or complaints. The MHA saw 9,389 first appeals and 960 second appeals, while the Ministry of Defence received 16,876 first appeals and 1,203 second appeals or complaints.
The report highlights wide variation in rejection patterns across authorities, even as lakhs of applications show continued public reliance on the RTI Act.
