Kathmandu — The Patan High Court has ruled that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) fall under the category of “public bodies,” stating that they must provide internal and financial information to citizens when requested.
The ruling came in a case involving the Blue Diamond Society, an organization working in the field of sexual and gender minority rights. The court upheld a previous decision by the National Information Commission after the organization refused to provide records from the past five years.
A joint bench of Chief Judge Lal Bahadur Kunwar and Judge Basudev Neupane interpreted the Right to Information Act, 2007 (2064 BS), concluding that NGOs are included within the definition of public bodies and must maintain transparency in matters of public interest.
In its decision, the court stated that every Nepali citizen has a constitutional and legal right to access information held by public bodies. It also clarified that institutions cannot avoid providing information by citing technical reasons, such as requests being submitted via email or the absence of a citizenship certificate.
The ruling further emphasized that institutional expenditures, decisions, and agreements with donor agencies are matters of public concern and cannot be treated as issues of personal privacy.
The dispute began after Numa Limbu requested several documents from the Blue Diamond Society covering the past five years. Her request included minutes of general assembly meetings, board meeting decisions, annual audit reports, employee salary details, information on consultant appointments, and agreements with donor agencies.
After the organization declined to provide the information, Limbu filed a complaint with the National Information Commission. On Kartik 20, 2082 (November 2025), the commission ordered the society to provide all requested information within seven days.
The Blue Diamond Society then filed an appeal at the Patan High Court, arguing that releasing the information would violate privacy rights and claiming that the application had not been submitted in a proper format.
However, the court cited Section 32 of the Right to Information Act, stating that appeals to the court are only applicable when the National Information Commission imposes a fine or punishment. It ruled that filing an appeal solely against an order to provide information is not legally justified.
With this decision, the Blue Diamond Society must now provide the requested five years of financial and administrative records to the applicant. Legal experts say the ruling sets an important precedent for NGOs operating in Nepal, reinforcing the principles of transparency and public accountability.
