Duplicate RTI applications — CIC

Quick Reply: Identical RTIs filed at short intervals may be clubbed and responded to once; new queries require fresh disposal. Identical repeat RTIs: PIO may point to prior. </WRAP>

Identical repeat RTIs: PIO may point to prior reply. New / materially different queries = fresh disposal required. ===== Case details ===== ^ Court | Central Information Commission | ^ Decided | 2018-01-01 | ^ Citation | Citation awaited | ^ Petitioner | Repeat applicants | ^ Respondent | PIOs | ^ RTI Act sections | §6, §7 | ^ Outcome | Guidance / other | ===== Outcome ===== Identical RTIs filed at short intervals may be clubbed and responded to once; new queries require fresh disposal. ===== Ratio decidendi ===== Where an applicant files substantially identical RTIs within a short window, the PIO may refer to the earlier reply — not a fresh response. New questions or materially changed circumstances require fresh disposal under §7(1). §6(2) motive-inquiry is still barred; this is an efficiency rule, not a motive test. ===== Keywords ===== duplicate RTI, repeat applications, CIC ===== Similar cases in the corpus ===== These rulings have the closest editorial ratio to this case — computed by tf-idf cosine similarity over ratio, keywords and Act sections. Useful starting points if you are researching the same point of law. * Partial information provided — fresh RTI for balance — CIC (CIC 2020) * §6(2) no-motive rule — Madras HC (HC-MAD 2013) * Repeat-information rejection — CIC guidance line (CIC 2012) * Irrelevant Information — CIC directive line (CIC 2010) * Information Commission vacancies — 2023 follow-up (SC 2023) ===== Related ===== * All Central Information Commission rulings in the corpus * All RTI cases turning on §6 * All RTI cases turning on §7 * Full case-law search * Case-Law Database — overview * PIO RTI Reply Guide * The RTI Act, 2005 — annotated

Editorial summary · last reviewed 21 April 2026.