LIC Policy Details Can Be Sought Under RTI Without Policy Number, But Basic Particulars Mandatory: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court has clarified that while individuals are entitled to seek details of their Life Insurance Corporation policies under the Right to Information Act, 2005 without necessarily providing policy numbers, such requests must include sufficient identifying particulars to enable retrieval of records.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia dismissed an intra court appeal filed by a policyholder who had sought a complete list of policies issued in her name without furnishing policy numbers or adequate supporting details.

“Writ jurisdiction, in fact, is plenary in nature and can be exercised by this Court in appropriate cases even where any statutory provision attaches finality to an order or makes such order binding. It is needless to state that judicial review is one of the basic features of the Constitution of India which cannot be taken away by any statutory provision. Thus, the submission made by the appellant on the basis of the provisions contained in Section 19(7) of the RTI Act is highly misconceived which merits rejection”, the Court observed.

The case arose from an RTI application filed in March 2022, wherein the appellant requested information regarding all policies in which she was the insured.

The Central Public Information Officer of Life Insurance Corporation of India declined the request on the ground that the absence of policy numbers made it impossible to trace the records.

This decision was subsequently upheld by the First Appellate Authority.

However, upon second appeal, the Central Information Commission took a more expansive view, observing that LIC should evolve mechanisms to retrieve policy details even without policy numbers.

It directed the disclosure of information, effectively placing the burden on the insurer to locate the relevant records.

Challenging this direction, LIC approached the High Court. A Single Judge, while acknowledging the need for improved data management systems, refrained from issuing mandatory directions to overhaul retrieval mechanisms. Instead, the court permitted the applicant to file a fresh RTI request accompanied by relevant identifying details.

Affirming this approach, the Division Bench underscored the balance between the right to information and the practical constraints faced by large public institutions.

The Court noted that while it is conceivable that an individual may be unaware of policy numbers, especially in cases where policies are taken without their knowledge, certain personal details would ordinarily be within the knowledge of the applicant.

“It is understandable that if under some insurance policy some person’s life has been insured without his or her knowledge, he or she may not know the policy number; however, the details regarding insured party’s name, date of birth, gender, address with pin code, mobile number, email ID and bank account number as registered under NEFT are such details which can be presumed to be within the knowledge of the person seeking the information,” the Bench observed.

The Court also highlighted the operational scale of LIC, noting that it manages over 27 crore policies. In such circumstances, expecting the organisation to manually trace records without adequate inputs would be impractical.

Emphasising this limitation, the Bench held that in the absence of key identifying details, it would be “difficult, rather impossible” for LIC to retrieve specific policy information. It reiterated that while the RTI framework promotes transparency and access to information, it does not absolve applicants of the responsibility to provide basic particulars necessary for locating records.

“We are also of the opinion that having regard to the fact that LIC handles 27 crore insurance policies, in absence of certain details, it will be difficult; rather impossible to retrieve any information sought in respect of a particular policy. It is quite possible that an insured person may not know the policy number; however, the other details which will enable the LIC to retrieve the details of the insurance policy need to be furnished by a person seeking any such information. In absence of such details, in our opinion, it will be impossible for the LIC to retrieve the information and furnish it to the information seeker”, the Court ruled.

Accordingly, the Court dismissed the appeal, while clarifying that there is no legal bar on an insured person seeking information about policies in their name. However, such requests must be accompanied by sufficient details to enable efficient and accurate retrieval.

Case Title: Ambika Gupta v. CPIO LIC

Bench: Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia

Date of Judgement: 08.04.2026