Bringing Information to the Citizens

Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government
information. It is an initiative taken by Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to provide a RTI Portal Gateway to the citizens for
quick search of information on the details of first Appellate Authorities,PIOs etc. amongst others,
besides access to RTI related information / disclosures published on the web by various Public
Authorities under the government of India as well as the State Governments
Objective of the Right to Information Act :
The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to empower the citizens,promote transparency and accountability
in the working of the Government,contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real sense.It
goes without saying that an informed citizen is better equipped to keep necessary vigil on the instruments of
governance and make the government more accountable to the governed.The Act is a big step towards making the
citizens informed about the activities of the Government.

It is an act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right

to information for citizens to secure access to information under
the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency
and accountability in the working of every public authority, the
constitution of a Central Information Commission and State
Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto.

Citation

Act No. 22 of 2005

Territorial

Whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir

extent

Enacted by

Parliament of India

Date enacted

15-June-2005

Date assented

22-June-2005

to

Date
commenced

12-October-2005
First RTI application submitted by Shahid
Raza Burney to a police station in Pune on 12
October 2005

The Right to Information Act (RTI) is an Act of the Parliament of India "to provide for setting out the
practical regime of right to information for citizens" and replaces the erstwhile Freedom of
information Act, 2002. The Act applies to all States and Union Territories of India except Jammu &
Kashmir. Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen may request information from a "public
authority" (a body of Government or "instrumentality of State") which is required to reply
expeditiously or within thirty days. The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their
records for wide dissemination and to proactively certain categories of information so that the
citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally. This law was passed by
Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 12 October 2005. The first application was
given to a Pune police station. Information disclosure in India was restricted by the Official Secrets
Act 1923 and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act relaxes. It codifies a fundamental
right of citizens.

Background[edit]

Freedom of Information Act 2002[edit]

The establishment of a national-level law for freedom of information proved to be a difficult task. The
Central Government appointed a working group under H. D. Shourie and assigned it the task of
drafting legislation. The Shourie draft, was the basis for the Freedom of Information Bill, 2000 which
eventually became law under the Freedom of Information Act, 2002. This Act was severely criticised
for permitting too many exemptions, not only under the standard grounds of national security and
sovereignty, but also for requests that would involve "disproportionate diversion of the resources of a
public authority". There was no upper limit on the charges that could be levied. There were no
penalties. The Act was passed by Parliament, but was never notified, so it did not attain legal force.

State-level RTI Acts[edit]

The state-level RTI Acts were first successfully enacted by the state governments of Tamil
Nadu (1997), Goa (1997), Rajasthan (2000), Delhi (2001), Maharashtra (2002), Assam(2002), Madh
ya Pradesh (2003), Jammu and Kashmir (2004), Haryana (2005) and Andhra Pradesh(2005).

Scope[edit]
The Act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir, where J&K Right to Information Act is
in force. It cover all constitutional authorities, including the executive, legislature and judiciary; any
institution or body established or constituted by an act of Parliament or a state legislature. It is also
defined in the Act that bodies or authorities established or constituted by order or notification of
appropriate government including bodies "owned, controlled or substantially financed" by
government, or non-Government organizations "substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds"
provided by the government are also covered in the Act.

Private bodies[edit]
Private bodies are not within the Act's ambit directly. In a decision of Sarbjit roy vs Delhi Electricity
Regulatory Commission,[1] the Central Information Commission also reaffirmed that privatised public
utility companies are not applicable for RTI.
As per recent verdict, Private Bodies and NGOs as well come under the purview of RTI....

Political parties[edit]
The Central Information Commission (CIC), consisting of Satyanand Mishra, M.L. Sharma and
Annapurna Dixit, has held that the political parties are public authorities and are answerable to
citizens under the RTI Act. The CIC, a quasi-judicial body, has said that six national parties
- Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI(M), CPI and BSP and BJD - have been substantially funded indirectly by
the Central Government and have the character of public authorities under the RTI Act as they
perform public functions[2][3] In August 2013 the government introduced a Right To Information
(Amendment) Bill which would remove political parties from the scope of the law.[4] In September
2013 the Bill was deferred to the Winter Session of Parliament. [5] In December 2013 the Standing
Committee on Law and Personnel said in its report tabled in Parliament [6]
"The committee considers the proposed amendment is a right step to address the issue once and
for all. The committee, therefore, recommends for passing of the Bill."

Process[edit]
The RTI process involves reactive (as opposed to proactive) disclosure of information by the
authorities. An RTI request initiates the process.

Each authority covered by the RTI Act must appoint their Public Information Officer (PIO). Any
person may submit a written request to the PIO for information. It is the PIO's obligation to provide
information to citizens of India who request information under the Act. If the request pertains to
another public authority (in whole or part), it is the PIO's responsibility to transfer/forward the
concerned portions of the request to a PIO of the other authority within 5 working days. In addition,
every public authority is required to designate Assistant Public Information Officers (APIOs) to
receive RTI requests and appeals for forwarding to the PIOs of their public authority. The applicant is
required to disclose his name and contact particulars but not any other reasons or justification for
seeking information.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) acts upon complaints from those individuals who have
not been able to submit information requests to a Central Public Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer due to either the officer not having been appointed, or because the respective
Central Assistant Public Information Officer or State Assistant Public Information Officer refused to
receive the application for information.
The Act specifies time limits for replying to the request.

If the request has been made to the PIO, the reply is to be given within 30 days of receipt.

If the request has been made to an APIO, the reply is to be given within 35 days of receipt.

If the PIO transfers the request to another public authority (better concerned with the
information requested), the time allowed to reply is 30 days but computed from the day after it is
received by the PIO of the transferee authority.

Information concerning corruption and Human Rights violations by scheduled Security

agencies (those listed in the Second Schedule to the Act) is to be provided within 45 days but
with the prior approval of the Central Information Commission.

However, if life or liberty of any person is involved, the PIO is expected to reply within 48
hours.

Since the information is to be paid for, the reply of the PIO is necessarily limited to either denying the
request (in whole or part) and/or providing a computation of "further fees". The time between the
reply of the PIO and the time taken to deposit the further fees for information is excluded from the
time allowed. If information is not provided within this period, it is treated as deemed refusal. Refusal
with or without reasons may be ground for appeal or complaint. Further, information not provided in
the times prescribed is to be provided free of charge. Appeal processes are also defined.

Fees[edit]
A citizen who desires to seek some information from a public authority is required to send, along with
the application, a demand draft or a bankers cheque or an Indian Postal Order of Rs.10/- (Rupees
ten) payable to the Accounts Officer of the public authority as fee prescribed for seeking information
The applicant may also be required to pay further fee towards the cost of providing the information,
details of which shall be intimated to the applicant by the PIO as prescribed by the RTI ACT [7]

Exclusions[edit]
Central Intelligence and Security agencies specified in the Second Schedule like IB,Directorate
General of Income tax(Investigation), RAW, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Directorate of
Revenue Intelligence, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, Directorate of Enforcement, Narcotics
Control Bureau, Aviation Research Centre, Special Frontier Force, BSF, CRPF, ITBP, CISF, NSG,
Assam Rifles, Special Service Bureau, Special Branch (CID), Andaman and Nicobar, The Crime
Branch-CID-CB, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Special Branch, Lakshadweep Police etc. will be
excluded. Agencies specified by the State Governments through a Notification will also be excluded.
The exclusion, however, is not absolute and these organizations have an obligation to provide
information pertaining to allegations of corruption and human rights violations. Further, information
relating to allegations of human rights violation could be given but only with the approval of the
Central or State Information Commission.

Information Exclusions[edit]
The following is exempt from disclosure under section 8 of the Act:

Information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of
India, the security, "strategic, scientific or economic" interests of the State, relation with foreign
State or lead to incitement of an offense;

Information which has been expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or
tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court;

Information, the disclosure of which would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the
State Legislature;

Information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property, the

disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party, unless the competent
authority is satisfied that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information;

Information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority
is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information;

Information received in confidence from foreign Government;

Information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person
or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or
security purposes;

Information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution

of offenders;

Cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and
other officers;

Information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which has no relationship
to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the
individual (but it is also provided that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament
or a State Legislature shall not be denied by this exemption);

Notwithstanding any of the exemptions listed above, a public authority may allow access to
information, if public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests. However,
this does not apply to disclosure of "trade or commercial secrets protected by law ".