Public Information Under RTI Not “Official Document”: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court held that information disclosed under the Right to Information Act cannot automatically be treated as an “official document” of a company. In a departmental proceeding, a person had posted an RTI reply publicly, and the company claimed that the same constituted internal official record subject to disciplinary action. The Court disagreed, observing that the scope of “official document” must relate to internal operations, board decisions, or managerial deliberations, not all public disclosures. The decision clarifies the boundary between transparency under RTI and protection of internal corporate governance records, preventing overbroad penal consequences for acts of public disclosure.