Can You File RTI to Lokayukta Police? Yes, SC Rules

Yes, you can file an RTI application to a Lokayukta or anti-corruption police body, and it must reply. The Supreme Court ruled on 15 June 2026 that such an investigating body is not an intelligence and security organisation, so it cannot hide behind the Section 24 exemption of the RTI Act, 2005. If a state told you its anti-corruption wing is exempt, that excuse no longer holds.

If you are short on time, read the corruption and human-rights proviso section below. It is your strongest lever even against a genuinely exempt body.

The case is Special Police Establishment v. Kamta Prasad Mishra, 2026 INSC 644, decided on 15 June 2026 by a two-judge bench of Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar.

In 2011 the State of Madhya Pradesh issued a notification under Section 24(4) of the RTI Act. It exempted the Madhya Pradesh Special Police Establishment from the RTI Act. That body is the investigating wing of the Lokayukta organisation under the M.P. Lokayukt Evam Up-Lokayukt Adhiniyam, 1981.

A person caught in a corruption trap case asked for the file. He wanted to know how the Home Department decided to grant sanction to prosecute him under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. He also sought the Lokayukt's responses to queries.

The Court held that an anti-corruption or Lokayukta investigating police body is not an intelligence and security organisation within the meaning of Section 24. An exempt organisation must be one that deals with intelligence and security matters. An anti-corruption wing investigates graft. So the 2011 notification could not stand, and the body must respond to RTI requests.

Section 24 is narrow. It does not exempt every secretive office.

1. Section 24(1) exempts the intelligence and security organisations listed in the Second Schedule. These are central bodies like the Intelligence Bureau.
2. Section 24(2) lets the Central Government add or remove organisations from that Schedule.
3. Section 24(4) gives State Governments a parallel power to notify their own intelligence and security organisations as exempt.

The key word is intelligence and security. A body qualifies only if it is empowered to go into intelligence and security matters. An anti-corruption police wing does not pass that test, however sensitive its files feel. That is the heart of the 2026 ruling.

Even a genuinely exempt body cannot stonewall you on graft. The proviso to Section 24 says that information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations is not excluded from disclosure.

This matters in two ways.

First, if the body is not really an intelligence agency, the whole exemption falls. That is what happened to the MP anti-corruption wing in 2026.

Second, even where a body is correctly listed in the Schedule, your corruption-related request still gets through. So frame your application around the corruption angle. State plainly that you seek information pertaining to allegations of corruption.

For more on how RTI and Lokayukta powers fit together, see RTI vs Lokpal and Lokayukta.

1. Identify the Public Information Officer of the Lokayukta or anti-corruption body. Check the body's official website or call its office.
2. Write a short application under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act. List each point you want as a numbered query.
3. Pay the fee of 10 rupees. Use a postal order, demand draft, or the state RTI portal. People below the poverty line pay no fee.
4. Cite the 2026 ruling if the body claims it is exempt. Name Special Police Establishment v. Kamta Prasad Mishra, 2026 INSC 644.
5. Send it by registered post or the online portal and keep the receipt. The reply is due in 30 days.
6. If you get no reply or an evasive one, file a first appeal within 30 days of the deadline. After that, you can approach the State Information Commission.

You can draft the request in minutes with the AI RTI Drafter tool.

To,
The Public Information Officer
[Name of Lokayukta / Anti-Corruption Police Body]
[Address]

Subject: Request for information under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005

Sir/Madam,

Please provide the following information pertaining to
allegations of corruption in [case / file reference]:

1. Certified copies of the file notings on the decision to
   grant or refuse sanction for prosecution under the
   Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 in the above matter.

2. The dates on which the sanction request was received,
   processed, and decided.

3. Copies of the responses given by the Lokayukta to queries
   raised in the above matter.

Note: This information relates to allegations of corruption and
is therefore not excluded under Section 24 of the RTI Act, 2005.

I enclose the fee of Rs. 10. Kindly send the information within
30 days.

Name:
Address:
Date:
Signature:

No. The Supreme Court held in 2026 that an anti-corruption or Lokayukta investigating police body is not an intelligence and security organisation under Section 24. So it cannot claim the exemption. Quote Special Police Establishment v. Kamta Prasad Mishra, 2026 INSC 644, if it tries.

That notification is open to the same challenge that succeeded in 2026. The Court struck down the Madhya Pradesh notification because the body was not an intelligence and security organisation. Cite the ruling in your first appeal and ask the body to apply it.

Yes. The proviso to Section 24 says information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations is not excluded. So even a body correctly listed in the Second Schedule must disclose corruption-related information.

You can seek file notings, the sanction-for-prosecution process, dates of processing, and the body's responses to queries, where these relate to corruption. The applicant in the 2026 case sought exactly this kind of process information about a prosecution sanction.

The PIO must reply within 30 days of receiving your application. If your request involves the life or liberty of a person, the reply is due in 48 hours. No reply by the deadline counts as a deemed refusal you can appeal.

File a first appeal to the First Appellate Officer within 30 days of the missed deadline. If that fails, file a second appeal or complaint with the State Information Commission. Keep copies of your application and postal receipts as proof.

1. Special Police Establishment v. Kamta Prasad Mishra, 2026 INSC 644, Supreme Court of India, 15 June 2026. Read the judgment on Indian Kanoon
2. Section 24, Right to Information Act, 2005, including Sections 24(1), 24(2), 24(4) and the proviso on corruption and human rights violations.

1. How to file a Lokpal or Lokayukta complaint
2. RTI vs Lokpal and Lokayukta, which to use
3. The RTI Playbook
4. AI RTI Drafter tool