Official communications

A public officer cannot be forced to disclose communications made to him in official confidence when he considers that disclosure would harm the public interest. The rule applies where information was given to the officer under official confidence and the officer judges that revealing it would injure public interest. The consequence is that the officer is immune from compulsion to disclose the communication.

Ravi, a municipal officer, receives a confidential tip that a public footbridge is structurally unsafe. A lawyer asks the court to force Ravi to name the source. Because Ravi believes naming the informant would harm public interest, he cannot be compelled to disclose the communication.