The Telangana High Court is hearing a plea alleging that the State government has failed to make public over 1.16 lakh Government Orders (GOs) issued since June 2014, despite earlier directions to upload the orders online.

The petition, filed by B Vinay Reddy claims that the State government informed the Telangana Legislative Assembly in March 2025 that it had issued 1,99,115 GOs between June 2, 2014 and March 14, 2025. However, only 82,657 of these orders were available in the public domain, leaving 1,16,458 GOs, or around 58.5 per cent, inaccessible to citizens.

The petitioner has also relied on a response to a Right to Information (RTI) application dated November 18, 2025, which revealed that only 3,290 of the 19,064 GOs issued between December 7, 2023 and January 26, 2025, were publicly available.

The plea is pending before Justice Surepalli Nanda.

The petition alleges that State government departments classify GOs as either 'public' or 'internal' on the Government Order Issue Register (GOIR) portal. It contends that departments withhold orders without passing reasoned orders citing Sections 8 or 9 of the Right to Information Act, which prescribe grounds for denying access to information.

According to the petitioner, this practice prevents citizens from accessing government decisions that may affect their rights and interests.

“A Government Order which is kept out of the public domain cannot be known, obeyed, questioned or relied upon by the citizen whose rights it affects,” the plea states.

The petition also refers to two earlier orders passed by the High Court on March 10, 2022 and December 23, 2025, directing the State government to upload unpublished GOs within eight weeks. It alleges that these directions have not been fully implemented. A separate contempt petition concerning the alleged non-compliance is also pending before the Court.

The petitioner has sought directions requiring the State government to publish all GOs issued since June 2, 2014, except those withheld for legally valid reasons. He has also sought disclosure of department-wise data on unpublished orders, timelines for uploading future GOs and the appointment of officers responsible for ensuring their publication.

The plea further challenges alleged delays in responding to an RTI application filed by Reddy on January 17, 2026. The application sought year-wise and department-wise details of GOs issued and uploaded since 2014, reasons for their non-publication and the rules governing the classification and withholding of such orders.

The petition also alleges delays in the proceedings before the Telangana Information Commission. According to the plea, the Commission took up Reddy's complaint, filed on February 22, only on July 15. Although the matter was heard three times, no decision was passed, and it was adjourned on October 13 without a further date being fixed.

The petitioner has further alleged that the Commission failed to provide records of the hearings or facilitate participation through video conferencing.

“A body created to enforce transparency cannot withhold from a party the record of his own proceeding,” the plea states.

Reddy has sought directions to provide the information requested under the RTI Act free of cost within two weeks and to decide his pending complaint within four weeks. He has also sought hybrid hearings, at least seven days' advance notice of hearing dates and the uploading of hearing records within three days.

The petition was filed through advocate Mahesh Mamindla.

Case Brief: B Vinay Reddy v. The State of Telangana & Ors.