Kohima: The High Court of Kolkata vide their Order dated 20/11/2013 in Writ Petition No. 33290 have observed that the authority should not insist upon the detailed address of the RTI applicant as and when any application is made under Right to Information Act. The High Court have considered the relevant provisions of Section 6(2) of the RTI Act 2005 where it provides that an applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him.
In view of the above, the authority should not insist upon his/her detailed whereabouts particularly when post box number is provided for that would establish contact with him/her and the authority. In case, the authority would find any difficulty with the post box number, they may insist upon personal details. However, in such case, it would be the solemn duty of the authority to hide such information and particularly from their website so that at large would not know of the details.
