The Indian Express: Article: Saturday,
December 20, 2025.
The issue with Section 39 is not that the N-power-related information can be withheld the RTI Act already permits this but the manner and finality of the exemption.
The Sustainable
Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India Bill, 2025
(SHANTI Bill) has come under criticism for explicitly overriding the Right to
Information Act of 2005. Section 39, which deals with secrecy and disclosure of
information, has been a major bone of contention.
What Section 39 says
Section 39 empowers the Centre to declare certain information as “restricted”. This includes “the location, quality and quantity of prescribed substance and transactions for their acquisitions…, or disposal…”, and information relating to “the theory, design, siting, construction and operation of nuclear power plant or reactor or plants for the treatment and production of any of the prescribed substance and for the separation of its isotopes”.
Restrictions also extend to regulatory interactions, covering “submissions made available to the Board or other regulatory bodies during the course of their work and declared as strategic, sensitive or confidential for business purpose by the applicant”.
The section states: “No person shall (a) disclose or obtain or attempt to obtain any restricted information; or (b) disclose, without authority of the Central Government, any information obtained in the discharge of any functions or performance of official duties under this Act.”
Section 39(4) states “Notwithstanding anything contained in the RTI Act, 2005, the information declared as restricted information or prohibited under this section shall be debarred from disclosure under the provisions of that Act”. In effect, once information is notified as restricted under Section 39, the RTI Act does not apply to it at all.
Current exemptions under RTI
The RTI Act, which was enacted to “promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority”, already contains limits on disclosure. Section 8 allows information to be withheld where disclosure would “prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence.”
The RTI Act also protects information covered by commercial confidence, trade secrets, fiduciary relationships, cabinet deliberations, and personal information. Section 9 allows rejection where disclosure would “involve infringement of copyright subsisting in a person other than the State”.
Crucially, Section 8(2) provides that “a public authority may allow access to information, if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests.”
The Atomic Energy Act of 1962 contained secrecy provisions, allowing the government to restrict disclosure of information relating to atomic energy plants and processes. However, these provisions predated the RTI Act.
After RTI came into force, in theory, transparency obligations prevailed unless an RTI exemption applied. The SHANTI Bill reverses that hierarchy.
Concerns regarding Section 39
The issue with Section 39 is not that the N-power-related information can be withheld the RTI Act already permits this but the manner and finality of the exemption. Under the RTI framework, exemptions are conditional; a public information officer must justify a denial, and that decision can be challenged through a first appeal, second appeal and information commissions or courts. The public interest override remains available throughout.
Section 39 removes this framework. Once information is notified as restricted, it is taken outside the scope of the RTI Act altogether. There is no balancing exercise, no appeal, and no opportunity to argue that public interest warrants disclosure.
Activist Anjali Bharadwaj told The Indian Express that Section 39 creates new secrecy categories that “attack the basic transparency law (RTI)”.
By excluding RTI, Section 39 could also deter whistleblowing and independent scrutiny in case of nuclear disasters, especially with private entities entering the sector.
Lastly, denials under the RTI Act can be challenged through statutory appeals. Under Section 39, “the RTI Act doesn’t apply at all, making it impossible to even ask for information and tracking secrecy to a whole new level.”
The issue with Section 39 is not that the N-power-related information can be withheld the RTI Act already permits this but the manner and finality of the exemption.
What Section 39 says
Section 39 empowers the Centre to declare certain information as “restricted”. This includes “the location, quality and quantity of prescribed substance and transactions for their acquisitions…, or disposal…”, and information relating to “the theory, design, siting, construction and operation of nuclear power plant or reactor or plants for the treatment and production of any of the prescribed substance and for the separation of its isotopes”.
Restrictions also extend to regulatory interactions, covering “submissions made available to the Board or other regulatory bodies during the course of their work and declared as strategic, sensitive or confidential for business purpose by the applicant”.
The section states: “No person shall (a) disclose or obtain or attempt to obtain any restricted information; or (b) disclose, without authority of the Central Government, any information obtained in the discharge of any functions or performance of official duties under this Act.”
Section 39(4) states “Notwithstanding anything contained in the RTI Act, 2005, the information declared as restricted information or prohibited under this section shall be debarred from disclosure under the provisions of that Act”. In effect, once information is notified as restricted under Section 39, the RTI Act does not apply to it at all.
Current exemptions under RTI
The RTI Act, which was enacted to “promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority”, already contains limits on disclosure. Section 8 allows information to be withheld where disclosure would “prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence.”
The RTI Act also protects information covered by commercial confidence, trade secrets, fiduciary relationships, cabinet deliberations, and personal information. Section 9 allows rejection where disclosure would “involve infringement of copyright subsisting in a person other than the State”.
Crucially, Section 8(2) provides that “a public authority may allow access to information, if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests.”
The Atomic Energy Act of 1962 contained secrecy provisions, allowing the government to restrict disclosure of information relating to atomic energy plants and processes. However, these provisions predated the RTI Act.
After RTI came into force, in theory, transparency obligations prevailed unless an RTI exemption applied. The SHANTI Bill reverses that hierarchy.
Concerns regarding Section 39
The issue with Section 39 is not that the N-power-related information can be withheld the RTI Act already permits this but the manner and finality of the exemption. Under the RTI framework, exemptions are conditional; a public information officer must justify a denial, and that decision can be challenged through a first appeal, second appeal and information commissions or courts. The public interest override remains available throughout.
Section 39 removes this framework. Once information is notified as restricted, it is taken outside the scope of the RTI Act altogether. There is no balancing exercise, no appeal, and no opportunity to argue that public interest warrants disclosure.
Activist Anjali Bharadwaj told The Indian Express that Section 39 creates new secrecy categories that “attack the basic transparency law (RTI)”.
By excluding RTI, Section 39 could also deter whistleblowing and independent scrutiny in case of nuclear disasters, especially with private entities entering the sector.
Lastly, denials under the RTI Act can be challenged through statutory appeals. Under Section 39, “the RTI Act doesn’t apply at all, making it impossible to even ask for information and tracking secrecy to a whole new level.”
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