Intelligence and security organisations that are exempted from the purview of the Right to Information Act are listed in the:

Under Section 24 of the Right to Information Act, 2005, the Act does not apply to the intelligence and security organisations established by the Central Government that are listed in the Second Schedule of the Act.

Organisations in the Second Schedule:

They include the Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, the Directorate of Enforcement, the Narcotics Control Bureau, the Aviation Research Centre, the Special Frontier Force, the Border Security Force, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Central Industrial Security Force, the National Security Guard, the Assam Rifles, the Sashastra Seema Bal, the Special Protection Group and others.

The Central Government can add or remove organisations from the Schedule by notification.

Exceptions to the exemption:

• Information relating to allegations of corruption and human rights violations is not excluded, even for these organisations.
• Information on human rights violations can be provided only after the approval of the Central or State Information Commission, within 45 days.

State organisations:

State governments can also exempt their intelligence and security organisations by notification.

Section 8 exemptions:

Apart from Section 24, Section 8 of the Act lists categories of information that are exempt, such as information affecting the sovereignty and integrity of India, security, strategic and economic interests, and personal information with no public interest.

Section 4:

Section 4 requires public authorities to proactively disclose information about their organisation, functions and budgets.

The First Schedule:

It contains the forms of oath or affirmation for Information Commissioners.

Debate over exemptions:

• Activists have criticised the wide exemptions, saying they reduce transparency.
• The government argues that these exemptions are needed for national security.

Courts and the exemptions:

Courts have held that the exemption under Section 24 does not cover information about corruption and human rights violations, as clearly provided by the Act.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The First Schedule contains oath forms.
• ✗The Seventh Schedule of the Constitution contains the legislative lists.
• ✗Section 4 deals with proactive disclosure.