Public interest in disclosure of enrollment details of an Advocate

The appellant sought details of enrolment of Mr. Ram Pat Garg who claims to be an Advocate of the Bar Council of Delhi. He sought the copies of all documents submitted by Mr. Ram Pat Garg to get himself enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council, including his Declarations, Enrolment Form, Affidavits. Education Credentials, etc. The PIO informed that as per records, Mr. Ram Pat Garg was provisionally enrolled as an Advocate vide Enrolment No. D/11197/2022. Further, other information cannot be provided as the same is duly exempted under the Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005, as it is a third-party information and no larger public interest has been disclosed. The Appellant contended that there is larger public interest in the information sought as the said person Ram Pat Garg is in judicial custody and that creates a reasonable suspicion on him in justifying disclosure of the sought documents. The respondent contended that the appellant can raise a formal complaint against the said third-party in contention if he doubts the enrollment of the third-party. The CIC ruled that there is no material on record to ascribe larger public interest in the disclosure of the information related to the third party in any of the above-referred contexts.

Comments

Mere making an allegation is not enough, the applicant must establish the larger public interest in the disclosure of the information related to the third party.

Citation: Rishabh Sharma v. Bar Council of Delhi, Second Appeal No. CIC/BCOIN/A/2025/107213; Date of Decision: 12.12.2025

Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Vishakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books PIO’s Guide to RTI and Right to Information – Law and Practice. Her weekly article is being published since 2008 on this site. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and third party audit to individuals / organisations. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation at the link https://www.rtifoundationofindia.com