Legal professional privilege bars RTI disclosure of counsel communications, and privileged records cannot be compelled from the Public Prosecutor's office.

Privileged legal communications between a public authority acting as counsel and its client remained protected from disclosure, as Section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act barred release of legal advice, correspondence and connected records. The RTI Act's general disclosure scheme, including the fiduciary exemption and public interest override, could not displace that statutory privilege where another law imposed a direct bar. The summons directed to the Public Prosecutor's office was therefore unsustainable and was set aside; the information could instead be sought from the State in possession of the records.

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Issues: Whether the summons issued by the Information Commission directing disclosure of communications, opinions and connected records held by the Public Prosecutor's office was sustainable in view of legal professional privilege and the exemptions under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Analysis: The Public Prosecutor's office was treated as a public authority, but the information sought included legal advice, correspondence and connected material held in the course of the lawyer-client relationship with the State. Such material was held to be protected by Section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, and the statutory privilege could not be displaced by the general disclosure framework of the Right to Information Act, 2005. The Court further held that the fiduciary exemption and public interest override provisions under the Act did not require the counsel to disclose privileged communications where another statute imposed a direct bar, and the request could instead be pursued from the State in possession of the records.

Conclusion: The summons was unsustainable and liable to be set aside; the writ petition succeeded.

Ratio Decidendi: Privileged legal communications between a public authority acting as counsel and its client remain protected from disclosure, and the Right to Information Act, 2005 does not override the statutory bar created by Section 126 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

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