Part of the PIO / FAA knowledge base. See also Bombay HC, Madras HC, Kerala HC, and Karnataka HC rulings.

Calcutta HC handles RTI appeals from West Bengal, parts of the North-East on jurisdictional reference, and the substantial body of PSUs headquartered in eastern India. Its rulings on school-board governance and trust-registration public-authority status are cited nationally.

• Ratio. State school boards are public authorities under §2(h); scoresheets, evaluation policies, and re-checking records are disclosable as per Aditya Bandopadhyay.
• PIO takeaway. Board-level PIOs must apply Aditya Bandopadhyay at first pass — resisting it fails at FAA.

• Ratio. An educational trust substantially financed and enjoying public-interest character may be a public authority; the test is substantive control / financing, not merely registration under the Trusts Act.
• PIO takeaway. Trust status ≠ exemption; the substantial-financing and public-function tests still apply.

• Ratio. University records — senate minutes, syllabus evolution, recruitment files — are public-authority records; §8(1)(e) does not swallow the whole recruitment file.
• PIO takeaway. For university HR files, segregate — personal evaluations are §8(1)(e), but process / criteria / selection committee composition are open.

• Ratio. Municipal records — mutation, property-tax assessments, trade-licence decisions — are public-authority records; third-party data follows §11 procedure strictly.
• PIO takeaway. Urban-local-body PIOs must follow §11 for third-party mutation / trade-licence data; skipping it fails.

• Ratio. PSU contract records post-award are disclosable; pre-award financial bids are a genuine §8(1)(d) concern; technical bids are post-award open.
• PIO takeaway. The pre- vs post-award distinction is the operational rule for PSU tenders.

• Ratio. Police inspection / investigation records under §8(1)(h) become disclosable after the investigation closes; a PIO cannot indefinitely claim pendency.
• PIO takeaway. The §8(1)(h) ground is time-bounded; track the closure date in the file note.

• Ratio. Port Trust records — cargo data, licence terms, contractor performance — are public-authority records; the “strategic interest” ground under §8(1)(a) is narrowly construed.
• PIO takeaway. Strategic-interest §8(1)(a) requires specific national-security linkage; commercial cargo is not.

• Ratio. Police complaint-register entries (Daily Diary) are disclosable to the complainant in the normal course; denial requires specific §8(1) ground.
• PIO takeaway. DD-entry disclosure is the baseline; per Lalita Kumari + this ratio, refusal must be specific.

• Ratio. Scholarship-sanction and research-grant files of a state university are public; individual PI-level data follows §8(1)(j) narrowly.
• PIO takeaway. Grant-level aggregate data and sanction letters — open. Individual investigator's personal data — narrow §8(1)(j).

• Ratio. The SIC's review / recall power is limited; orders once passed cannot be reopened except on a narrow procedural ground (hearing not granted, etc.).
• PIO takeaway. SIC orders are largely final; escalation after review is to the High Court, not back to the SIC.

1. “The Calcutta High Court in West Bengal Board of Secondary Education applied Aditya Bandopadhyay — scoresheets and evaluation policies are open.”
2. “In Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the Calcutta High Court held that §11 third-party procedure is mandatory for mutation / trade-licence data.”
3. “In Eastern Coalfields, the Calcutta High Court set the pre- vs post-award rule for PSU tender disclosures.”

• School / board record disputes, cite WB Board of Secondary Education.
• Trust / NGO disputes, cite Ramakrishna Mission RIERI — substantial-financing is live.
• PSU tender, cite Eastern Coalfields to extract post-award technical evaluation.

• Reading Ramakrishna Mission RIERI as closing trust-level RTI — it is fact-driven; each trust tested separately.
• Using S. Mukherjee as a universal key — only applies after investigation closure.
• Misapplying Kolkata Port Trust to defence-linked records — §8(1)(a) applies there.

• PIO / FAA knowledge base
• How to cite case law
• Bombay HC rulings
• Madras HC rulings
• Kerala HC rulings
• Karnataka HC rulings

• Calcutta High Court judgements (India Kanoon / Calcutta HC portal)
• West Bengal State Information Commission annual reports
• RTI Act, 2005

Last reviewed: 21 April 2026.