The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 gives every citizen the power to seek information held public authority. But many applicants are unsure about one practical question: How much information can we ask for in a single RTI application? Can you ask for multiple documents? Multiple topics? Information covering several years?
A recent decision of the Central Information Commission (CIC), based on a case involving queries about the entire five-year tenure of the former President of India, helps clarify these limits.
Understanding the Scope of an RTI Request
Under Section 2(j) of the RTI Act, a person has the right to seek information that:
· Already exists,
· Is held or controlled public authority,
· And does not require compilation, research, or creation of new records.
This means:
· You can ask for any existing record.
· You cannot ask the PIO to create a new document, compile data, or extract information from multiple departments if such a compiled record does not already exist.
CIC Case Example: Seeking Information About a Five-Year Presidential Tenure
Background
An applicant asked the President’s Secretariat for a wide range of information about a former President, including:
· All travel details for five years,
· Total expenditure incurred on such visits,
· All mercy petitions decided,
· All Bills passed during her entire tenure.
The Public Information Officer (PIO) rejected the request, saying that:
· It contained multiple unrelated items, and
· The Secretariat did not have the information in a compiled form.
What the CIC Held
During the hearing, the CIC made some key observations:
1. RTI Cannot Cover Extremely Broad, Omnibus Requests
The request covered “the entire five-year tenure”, which would require retrieving hundreds of files from multiple sections.
The CIC stated this is not practical under RTI.
2. Information Must Already Exist in a Record
If the public authority does not have a document compiling the requested data,
the PIO is not obligated to create it.
3. PIO Must Still Provide Any Available Compiled Information
Even if the full information is too vast, the PIO must:
· Identify and provide any portions already compiled,
· Check whether similar RTI queries were answered earlier,
· Give the applicant whatever is readily available.
4. Applicant Should Ask for Specific Information
The CIC advised that the applicant should request precise, identifiable records,
not broad, umbrella-type information covering several years and multiple subjects.
So How Much Can You Ask in an RTI?
You CAN ask for:
· A specific document
· A particular file or record
· Information relating to a specific date range (reasonable)
· Information on one subject or department
You CANNOT ask for:
· “All details of everything done in 5 years”
· Data requiring fresh research, analysis, or compilation
· Information scattered across many departments if no compiled record exists
· Multiple unrelated subjects in one RTI, if it burdens the PIO
How to Frame RTI Queries Correctly
To avoid rejection, always:
1. Keep it Specific
Instead of:
“All travel expenses of President from 2007–2012”
Ask:
“Kindly provide copies of travel expenditure records already available in compiled form for the President between 2007–2012.”
2. Avoid Multiple Unrelated Questions
Break them into separate RTIs if needed.
3. Ask for Existing Documents
Example wording:
“Please provide the records as available in the files of your office.”
4. Avoid Huge Time Spans
Large periods = higher chance of rejection as voluminous or non-existent in compiled format.
Conclusion
You can request any information already held public authority, but the RTI Act does not permit asking for open-ended, multi-topic, or extremely voluminous details that require new compilation.
The CIC case on the former President’s tenure is a perfect example:
You can ask wide, but not unlimited.
Public authorities are only required to share information that already exists in an identifiable form.
