Section 8 of the RTI Act lists exemptions from disclosure. Which of the following is an exemption?

Explanation

Section 8 is the RTI Act provision that lists exemptions from disclosure: despite the general right to seek information, it says there is no obligation to give a citizen certain protected categories of information. Section 8(1)(a) directly covers information whose disclosure would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relations with foreign States, or lead to incitement of an offence. Option D matches this statutory ground, so it is the exemption. The wider Section 8(1) list also includes court-prohibited information, legislative privilege, commercial confidence or trade secrets, fiduciary information, confidential foreign-government information, personal information without public interest, investigation-related information, Cabinet papers, and intellectual property concerns.

Why the other options are wrong

• (A) Government employee salaries are not a salary-specific exemption under Section 8(1); the option does not invoke any listed protected ground such as sovereignty, security or foreign relations.
• (B) Budget allocations are not named as an exemption category in Section 8(1); the provision exempts specified protected information, not allocation information merely because it is financial.
• (C) Government tenders, as a broad category, are not the Section 8(1)(a) exemption; only tender-related information fitting a listed ground, such as commercial confidence or another protected category, can be withheld under Section 8.

Concept

This tests the RTI Act's balance between transparency and protected public interests. It recurs in RAS governance questions because Section 8 is the standard statutory list used to judge when access to information can lawfully be refused.

Source

• India Code, The Right to Information Act, 2005
• https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/15691/1/rti_act_2005.pdf

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