RTI cannot seek hypothetical / future information — Delhi HC

Quick Reply: RTI can seek only recorded information; hypothetical or future-fact questions are outside §2[f]. RTI seeks recorded information; hypothetical questions / future. </WRAP>

RTI seeks recorded information; hypothetical questions / future projections are not 'information'. ===== Case details ===== ^ Court | High Court of Delhi | ^ Decided | 2016-01-01 | ^ Citation | Citation awaited | ^ Petitioner | PIO | ^ Respondent | RTI applicant | ^ RTI Act sections | §2(f) | ^ Outcome | Applicant allowed | ===== Outcome ===== RTI can seek only recorded information; hypothetical or future-fact questions are outside §2(f). ===== Ratio decidendi ===== The RTI Act, through §2(f), covers recorded information held by the public authority. Questions that seek opinions, hypothetical scenarios, or future-fact projections (e.g., 'what will be the policy next year?') fall outside the definition. ===== Keywords ===== §2(f), hypothetical, future information, recorded information, Delhi HC ===== 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. * Khanapuram Gandaiah v. Administrative Officer (SC 2010) * Repeat-information rejection — CIC guidance line (CIC 2012) * Girish Ramchandra Deshpande v. CIC (SC 2012) * DPDP 2025 effect on §8(1)(j) — Delhi HC guidance (HC-DEL 2025) * Partial information provided — fresh RTI for balance — CIC (CIC 2020) ===== Related ===== * All High Court of Delhi rulings in the corpus * All RTI cases turning on §2 * All RTI cases turning on §6 * Full case-law search * Case-Law Database — overview * PIO RTI Reply Guide * The RTI Act, 2005 — annotated

Editorial summary · last reviewed 21 April 2026.