Jabalpur, Nov 3 — The Madhya Pradesh High Court has allowed RTI activist Ajay Dubey to inspect records relating to monthly reports sent by the state Governor to the Central government on the state's governance and political situation, bringing a fresh development in a legal battle spanning more than 15 years.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Alpesh Y. Kogje and Justice Vivek Jain passed the order on November 2 while disposing of Writ Appeal No. 3441 of 2026 filed by Dubey.
The bench modified a single judge's order dated August 17, 2026, in Writ Petition No. 18347 of 2015 and directed implementation of the First Appellate Authority's order dated February 23, 2012.
The dispute originated from an RTI application filed by Dubey on December 12, 2011, before the Public Information Officer of the Raj Bhavan Secretariat in Bhopal.
He had sought month-wise details of reports sent by the then Governor to the Centre from January 1, 2011, onwards regarding the activities of the Madhya Pradesh government and the political situation in the state.
Dube had also sought details of communications and directions issued by the Central government on the basis of these reports.
After the information was not provided, Dubey approached the First Appellate Authority, which directed that he be allowed to inspect the relevant records and identify the documents for which he wanted copies.
The matter subsequently went through further legal proceedings, including before the High Court and the Madhya Pradesh State Information Commission.
In its latest order, the division bench took note of the time that had elapsed since the original appellate order and modified the single judge's directions to facilitate inspection of the records before Dubey specifies the documents required.
"It is open for the appellant to approach the Public Information Officer with an application for inspection and based on such inspection, an application for supply of the documents specified therein may be filed," the bench observed.
Accordingly, Dubey can now approach the Raj Bhavan Secretariat for inspection and subsequently seek certified copies of the specific documents identified during the process.
"This order is significant in the context of the long-pending demand for access to official records concerning the Governor's communications with the Centre," Dubey said, talking to IANS on Tuesday.