Question
As per RTI Act 2009, I want to get information about some matter of a government office as evidence with pictures of some documents inside that office, but I am not a staff of that office and I have collected the documents through other means.. like photo of attendance sheet, photo of appointment letter. Have I violated any other law due to the disclosure of these documents? According to the Right to Information Act, is this violation punishable due to information seeking? I am not the staff of the office and through which the information was collected, I would like to know whether the authorities of this office can do cyber tracking or prosecute the person who asked for the information and through whom the information was collected and punish them under the law? And if it is a punishable offence, is there any way to get rid of it? Since the information has come out and the office is trying to find out who shared this information.
Answer
It is a punishable offense to look at or collect any government document without the permission of the proper authority, and it is an offense to collect it otherwise. You may be prosecuted under Penal Code Act and Digital Security Act. If you see documents that are not available to the general public or require court permission, you can apologize to them and ask them to arrange for a fine to be pardoned without taking any legal action.