Chhattisgarh High Court upholds withholding PWD tender records tied to alleged ₹1,954-crore irregularities during PAC inquiry

The petitioner sought information under the Right to Information Act, 2005, concerning PWD Tender No. 597 and alleged financial irregularities of Rs. 1,954.1 crore referred to in a CAG audit report.

The Public Information Officer denied the request on the ground that an inquiry was pending. The First Appellate Authority upheld the denial under Section 8(1)(h), and the State Information Commission dismissed the petitioner’s second appeal.

The State submitted before the High Court that an inquiry into the alleged irregularities was pending before the Public Accounts Committee.

Whether the information concerning Tender No. 597 was exempt from disclosure under Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act because an inquiry into the alleged irregularities was pending

Whether the State Information Commission’s dismissal of the second appeal disclosed a jurisdictional error or patent illegality warranting interference

Section 8(1)(h) of the RTI Act exempts information whose disclosure would impede the process of investigation, apprehension or prosecution of offenders

The Court applied this exemption to information sought while an inquiry concerning the alleged financial irregularities remained pending

The Court noted that proceedings concerning Tender No. 597 and the alleged irregularities identified in the CAG audit report were under inquiry before the Public Accounts Committee.

It held that disclosure at that stage had the potential to prejudice or impede the inquiry and therefore attracted Section 8(1)(h). On that basis, it found no jurisdictional error or patent illegality in the State Information Commission’s order

The writ petition was dismissed, with liberty to the petitioner to submit a fresh application after completion of the inquiry.