Rti, 2005

Querist : Anonymous (Querist) 22 May 2021 This query is : Resolved
Can government hospital deny providing the medical record to anyone? if yes under what law?

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Under India's RTI Act 2005, government hospitals can generally deny providing a patient's medical records to a third party, as this constitutes personal information. This is primarily due to Section 8(1)(j) of the Act, which exempts personal information from disclosure unless a larger public interest justifies it. While medical records are considered private, exceptions exist if public funds were used for treatment or if an individual's condition affects others' rights.

Advocate Bhartesh goyal (Expert) 22 May 2021
Yes, Govt Hospitals can drny third party to provide patient's record ( personal information ) under sec 8(1) of RTI 2005.

kavksatyanarayana (Expert) 22 May 2021
Yes. Personal information cannot be given to third parties.

K Rajasekharan (Expert) 22 May 2021
Every law in India (or in the world over) concerned with health information or medical records, right from the British period to the present day prohibits public dissemination of health information or sensitive personal data.

There are many statutes in this category such as Code of ethics for doctors, Right to Information Act, Information Technology Act, Clinical Establishment Regulation Act, Privacy judgment of the Supreme Court etc which unanimously prohibit dissemination of personal health information except for research purposes in an anonymised form.

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Sudhir Kumar, Advocate (Expert) 24 May 2021
please state facts of the case instead of setting question paper for promotion examination in RTI

Sankaranarayanan (Expert) 24 May 2021
What details you asked through RTI? certain details not been allowed to furnish under RTI .state the facts

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate Online

(Expert) 24 May 2021
Section 8(1)(j) of RTI Act provides that personal information need not be disclosed unless the larger public interest justifies it.
If the information is personal or would amount to invasion of privacy of the individual, what the Public Information Officer has to satisfy is whether the larger public interest justifies the disclosure.

When disease of one person is affecting rights of the other, public interest demands disclosure of such information.

The Bombay High Court said that the Regulations framed under the Indian Medical Council Act, will have to be read with Section 8(1) (j) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Information about one’s disease is ‘personal’; others should not be interested in it. But there are exceptions. When public money is spent on treating disease, the information relating to that public interest shall be revealed. When disease of one person is affecting rights of the other, public interest demands disclosure of such information. Misss JJ sought for copies of all papers, documents, records, old medical records, case history records etc available with Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) in relation to her husband Sanjay Singh. She alleged that she was physically tortured due to his mental illness. Her brother alleged that her husband and his relatives have suppressed the truth about his mental health to cheat her into marriage, which proved a hell for her thereafter. The PIO replied that information is related to the psychiatric medical information, thus exempted under section 8(1)(e).

Section 8(1)(j) of RTI Act provides that personal information need not be disclosed unless the larger public interest justifies it. If the information be personal or would amount to invasion of privacy of the individual, what the Public Information Officer has to satisfy is whether the larger public interest justifies the disclosure. The Bombay High Court said that the Regulations framed under the Indian Medical Council Act, will have to be read with Section 8(1)(j) of the Right to Information Act.

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Querist : Anonymous (Querist) 24 May 2021
Thank you experts for the help. As the law is interpreted differently by everyone. I needed an opinion covering the grey area of answer being either yes or no.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate Online

(Expert) 24 May 2021
The answer to your query was given very clearly as per the query raised by you.
In general it cannot be divulged except under the circumstances explained in my post.
Hence you may go through the answers properly before reverting with the same question or you may be little more clear in your question.

P. Venu (Expert) 24 May 2021
Grey ares cannot be cleared unless you are willing to disclose the material facts.

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