9. Security of information.—1
[(1) The statistics officer or any person or agencies authorised
under this Act shall, for statistical purposes, use any information furnished under section 6 in such
manner as may be prescribed.].
1. Subs. by Act 21 of 2017, s. 5, for sub-section (1) (w.e.f. 3-10-2017).
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(2) No person other than a person engaged in the work of collection of statistics under this Act or
preparation of statistics resultant to such collection shall be permitted to see any information schedule
or any answer to a question asked, except for the purposes of a 1
[penalty] under this Act.
(3) No information contained in any information schedule and no answer to any question asked
shall, except for the purposes of a 1
[penalty] under this Act, be separately published, or disclosed
without suppressing the identification of informants to any agency.
(4) All statistical information published by any agency shall be arranged in such a manner so as to
prevent any particulars becoming identifiable by any person (other than the informant by whom those
particulars were supplied) as the particulars relating to the informant who supplied it, even through
the process of elimination, unless—
(a) that informant has consented to their publication in that manner; or
(b) their publication in that manner could not reasonably have been foreseen by the concerned
agency or any employee thereof.
(5) For the purposes of sub-section (4), the Central Government may make such rules or make
such arrangement, as it may consider necessary.
10. Appropriate Government authorised to disclose certain information.—Notwithstanding
the provisions contained in section 9 of this Act, the appropriate Government may disclose the
following information, namely:—
(a) information supplied by informant in respect of which disclosure is consented to in writing
by the informant or by any person authorised by the said informant;
(b) information otherwise available to the public under any Act or as a public document;
(c) information in the form of an index or list of the names and addresses of informants together
with the classification, if any, allotted to them and the number of persons engaged.
11. Disclosure of information schedules for bona fide research or statistical purposes.—(1)
Notwithstanding the provisions contained in section 9 of this Act, the appropriate Government may
disclose individual returns or formats or information schedules to other agency or person or
institutions or universities solely for bona fide research or statistical purposes pursuant to their
functions and duties.
(2) No individual return or information schedule shall be disclosed pursuant to this section unless–
(a) the name and address of the informant by whom the schedule or related information was
supplied is deleted;
(b) every agency or person or institutions or Universities involved in the research or statistical
project makes a declaration to use the schedules disclosed to them only for bona fide research or
statistical purposes; and
(c) the appropriate Government, making such disclosure is satisfied that the security of the
schedules and any information contained therein shall not be impaired.
(3) The published results of any research or statistical project shall not divulge any more
information than what the agency authorised for collection of statistics could publish under this Act.
(4) Every agency or person or institutions or universities to whom any individual return or
information schedule is disclosed under this section shall comply with directions given by the agency
authorised for collection of statistics making the disclosure relating to the schedules and any
information contained therein.
12. Disclosure of historical documents.—Notwithstanding anything contained in section 9 of this
Act, the appropriate Government may release such documents relating to information schedules,
which in its opinion have attained historical importance.
1. Subs. by Act 18 of 2023, s. 2 and Schedule for “prosecution” (w.e.f. 10-12-2024).
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13. Security of recorded information.—The statistics officer or any person or agency authorised
for collection of statistics shall, while copying or recording any statistical information collected
pursuant to this Act from individual returns, information schedules, worksheets or any other
confidential source by means of cards, tapes, discs, film or any other method, whether using encoded
or plain language symbols for processing, storage or reproduction of particulars, take and cause to
take such steps as are necessary to ensure that the security provisions of this Act are complied with.
14. Restrictions on use of information.—Save as otherwise provided under this Act,—
(a) no information obtained pursuant to this Act and no copy of the information in the
possession of any informant shall be disclosed or used as evidence in any proceedings whatsoever;
and
(b) no person who has access to any information because of his official position in the
collection of any statistics shall be compelled in any proceedings whatsoever to give oral
testimony regarding the information or to produce any schedule, document, or record with respect
to any information obtained in the course of administering this Act,
except in the manner provided under this Act.