Police departments are the largest RTI rejecters in 2025
Quick Reply: Police departments are the single largest invokers of §8 exemptions in 2025. Drilling into the data, the patterns, and applicant counter-strategies.
The CIC Annual Report 2024-25 confirms what activists have long suspected: police departments are the single largest invokers of §8 exemptions — accounting for ~22% of all rejections.
The breakdown
- §8(1)(g) — informant safety: 42% of police rejections.
- §8(1)(h) — investigation interference: 31%.
- §8(1)(j) — third-party privacy: 18%.
- §24 — schedule-listed agency: 9%.
State patterns
- Maharashtra Police — top rejecter; ~5,400 rejections in 2024-25.
- Delhi Police — ~3,800.
- UP Police — ~3,200.
- Karnataka Police — relatively low rejecter.
Common rejection patterns to counter
- “Investigation pending” indefinitely — counter with: file §156(3) magistrate complaint and force update.
- “Informant identity” — RTI for closed/disposed matters; identity protection lapses.
- “Third-party” — frame ask for anonymised institutional data instead.
What is winning
- Lalita Kumari (2014) + Bhagwant Singh (1985) + Jiju Lukose (2014) trilogy is winning FIR-disclosure appeals.
- D.K. Basu (1997) for arrest-records disclosures.
- NCRB statistics — public, can be used to triangulate police data.
Practical strategy
- File initial RTI for statistical/aggregate data (FIR types, conviction rates) — usually disclosable.
- For specific cases, await closure/disposal, then file with closure reference.
- For misconduct, file directly to SP/DGP with cc to State Human Rights Commission.
Sources
- CIC Annual Report 2024-25.
- NCRB Crime in India 2024.
- Lalita Kumari (2014); D.K. Basu (1997).
Last reviewed: 25 April 2026.
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