DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

RIGHT TO INFORMATION

MS.T.Y.Nirmala Devi

Associate professor

Baswa.Praveen

2015020 & 1st Semester

ACKNOWLEDGE
I would like to put forward my heartfelt appreciation to our respected Political Science
professor, Prof. MS.T.Y. Nirmala Devi. for giving me a golden opportunity to take up this project
regardingRIGHT TO INFORMATION. I have tried my best to collect information about the
project in various possible ways to depict clear picture about the given project topic. which also
helped me in doing a lot of Research and I came to know about so many new things I am really
thankful to them. By this
 Abstract

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: - 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. 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.
 TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Introduction.

2. Act Under Right to Information

3. Pre and after Independence Situations

A. Situations before Independence

B. Origin and Development of the Right to Information

C. Situations after Independence

4. Benefits of Right to Information act to people

5. Reasons & Objectives of this Act

6. Miss-use and exceptions of Right to information

7. Conclusion
 INTRODUCSION:

According to the research findings, Right to Information is implicitly guaranteed by the

constitution of India. The Right to Information Act it is formed in the year 2005. It is one of the
most important Legislatures of the Government of India and is to promote transparency and
accountability in the functioning of the Government. Right to Information is very comprehensive
and is applicable to all levels such as, Union, state and local as well as recipients of government
grants. The main aim RTI is with a view to set out a practical regime for securing information
and this Right to Information Act was enacted by Parliament of India in the year 2005.

Right to Information Act, 2005 was become mandatory in the country for the timely
response to citizens requests for Government information. RIT is as initiative taken by
Department of personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, public Grievances and personnel,
public Grievances and pensions to provide a Right to information portal Gateway to the citizens
of quick search of information or may be in emergency situations on the details of first Appellate
Authorities, PIOs etc., amongst others, besides access to RTI related information / disclosure
published on the website or internet by various Public Authorities under the Indian Government
and also associated with State Government.

The Government of India has stated about the meaning of Right to Information, which
means the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of
any public authority and includes the right to,

1. Inspection of work, documents, records.

2. Taking notes and extracts or certified copies of documents or records.
3. Taking certified samples of material.
4. Obtaining information in the thrm of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other
electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in any
other device.

Information is any material in any form that we request the Government to provide. It
includes records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders,
logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form.
It also includes information relating to any private body which can be accessed by the public
authority under any law for the time being in force.

ACT UNDER RIGHT TO INFORMATION

The Right to Information Act, 2005 is one of the most important legislation of the
Government of India to promote transparency and accountability in the functioning of the
Government. Within eight years of its enactment, RTI has become one of the most effective
means to make an informed citizenry. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has
been playing a pivotal role in the effective implementation of the RTI Act.

Right to Information is started with some ideas and objectives, the basic object of this Act is to
empower the citizens of India, promote transparency and accountability in the working the
Government, to eradicate corruption in the politics as well as in Government agencies, and to
make our Democratic country to work for the people and to the people in the real sense.

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.

What is Information?
Information is any material in any form. It includes records, documents, memos, e-mails,
opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples,
models, data material held in any electronic form. It also includes information relating to any
private body which can be accessed by the public authority under any law for the time being in
force.

What is a Public Authority?

A "public authority" is any authority or body or institution of self government established
or constituted by or under the Constitution; or by any other law made by the Parliament or a
State Legislature; or by notification issued or order made by the Central Government or a State
Government. The bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed by the Central Government
or a State Government is also public authorities. Non-Government organizations substantially
financed by the Central Government or a State Government also fall within the definition of
public authority. The substantial financing by the Central Government or a State Government
may be direct or indirect. The Act does not define substantial financing. Various
courts/Information Commissions have been deciding on this issue on case to case basis,
depending upon the merits of each case.

A citizen has a right to seek such information from a public authority which is held by the public
authority or which is held under its control. This right includes inspection of work, documents
and records; taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records; and taking
certified samples of material held by the public authority or held under the control of the public
authority. It is important to note that only such information can be supplied under the Act that is
available and existing and is held by the public authority or is held under the control of the public
authority. The Public Information Officer is not supposed to create information that is not a part
of the record of the public authority. The Public Information Officer is also not required to
furnish information which require drawing of inference and/or making of assumptions; or to
 interpret information; or to solve the problems raised by the applicants; or to furnish replies to
hypothetical questions.
A citizen has a right to obtain information from a public authority in the form of diskettes,
floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through print-outs provided
such information is already stored in a computer or in any other device.
The information to the applicant should ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought.
However, if the supply of information sought in a particular form would disproportionately
divert the resources of the public authority or may cause harm to the safety or preservation of the
records, supply of information in that form may be denied.
In some cases, the applicants expect the Public Information Officer to give information in some
particular proforma devised by them on the plea that they have a right to get information in the
form in which it is sought. It need be noted that the provision in the Act simply means that if the
information is sought in the form of photocopy, it shall be provided in the form of photocopy, or
if it is sought in the form of a floppy or in any other electronic mode, it shall be provided in that
form, subject to the conditions given in the Act. It does not mean that the PIO shall re-shape the
information.
Some Information Seekers request the Public Information Officers to cull out information from
some document(s) and give such extracted information to them. A citizen has a right to get
material from a public authority which is held by or under the control of that public authority.
The Act, however, does not require the Public Information Officer to deduce some conclusion
from the material and supply the conclusion so deduced to the applicant. It means that the
Public Information Officer is required to supply the material in the form as held by the public
authority, but not to do research on behalf of the citizen to deduce anything from the material and
then supply it to him.

PRE AND AFTER INDEPENDENCE SITUATIONS

since its independence, India has transformed a lot. When India attained independence in 1947,
its population was around 400 million people. Now there are billion people in India. India is the
largest democracy in the world. It has the biggest number of people with franchise rights and the
largest number of political parties, which take part in election campaign.
Before its independence, India was never a single country but a bunch of different entities. Many
predicted that India, because of diversities in its cultures, religion, languages, castes,
manners,local histories, nationalities and identities, would not survive as a single democratic
country, but would break up into smaller countries.
Since independence, India had many political problems. During independence the most burning
issues were the riots between the Hindus and Muslims while the Sikhs were siding with Hindus.
Another issue was convincing the Princely states not to declare independence or join Pakistan
but to join the Indian Union. India also had a few wars with its neighbors on border issues.
India also has many internal problems. Different communities with different identities - regional,
language, caste, religion - demanded different rights for their communities. Some communities
demanded more autonomy for their cultures within the Indian states. Others demanded
autonomous states within the Indian Union, while the others demanded to be independent from
India.
With all its problems India survives as a single state with democratic character.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION

The Constitution of India does not explicitly grant a right to information. However, the Supreme
Court of India (the country's highest court) has held in several cases that the right to information
is implicit in the constitutionally enshrined rights to freedom of speech and expression (Article
19 (1)(a) and right to life and liberty (Article 21).
The first Supreme Court ruling on the right to information dates back to 1975. However, no
attempt was made by either the Central or the State Governments to implement a simple and
effective access to information regime until after the launching of campaigns for freedom of
information by civil society. (Notably, effective right to information legislation is important even
where a constitutional right exists because it ensures that people do not have to go to court every
time they want to exercise the right, and puts in place simple, clear and regular procedures which
can be easily utilised by all.)
The first and most well-known right to information movement in India was the Mazdoor Kisan
Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), which began its right to information work in Rajasthan during the
early 1990s. MKSS's struggle for access to village accounts and transparency in administration is
widely credited with having sparked off the right to information movement across India.
From the mid-1990s, a national campaign for the enactment of a central law on right to
information gained momentum. After much struggle, the Central Government enacted the Indian
Freedom of Information Act in 2002. The Act represents an important step towards actualising
the Right to Information, but has been criticised for not going far enough. More problematically,
the Act is yet to come into force, since the rules to implement the Act are yet to be formulated by
the Central Government.1

SITUATIONS AFTER INDEPENDENCE

BENEFITS OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT TO PEOPLE

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. Whereas the Constitution of India has established democratic
Republic and with as democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information
which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and
their instrumentalities accountable to the governed and whereas revelation of information in
actual practice is likely to conflict with other public interests including efficient operations of the
governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of
sensitive information and whereas it is necessary to harmonies these conflicting interests while
preserving the paramount of the democratic ideal now. therefore. it is expedient to provide for
furnishing certain information to citizens who desire to have it. be it enacted by parliament in the
fifty-sixth year of the republic of India as follows: rill a ptld

REASONS AND OBJECTIVES OF THIS ACT

1 http://humanrightsinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62&Itemid=71
MISS-USE AND EXCEPTIONS OF THE RTI
The Commission observed him in dozens of the cases and found him misrepresenting the
matters very cleverly, hiding information, contradicting himself ets. He takes every matter
to first and second appeal, deliberately so that such attendance it self would harass the officers. H
e drafts such RTI questions that at least halfadozen officers to attend the first
and second appeals. It appears he has a property dispute with his brother Hoshiar Singh
or some other private vengence. The Commission has seen many cases of misuse of RTI
but, this appellant is the worst among all and his vengence against his brother has no
bounds at all. It is surprising that the DTC has not taken any steps to stop his blatant misuse of R
TI. His multiple, repetitive and vexatious questions about trivial things of his
brother resulting in the choking the system in DTC is the most serious misuse of RTI Act.
Because of this, the Public Authority is being engaged continuously to answer his
meaningless questions. Dozens of RTI applications and hundreds of questions were filed
against Mr. Hoshiar Singh are either his personal information or third party information.
Appellang relentlessly pursues as if he does not have any other work, causing criminal
waste of time of PIOs, FAAs and the Commission. Stated in the case of Mrnarayan Singh vs
Delhi Transport Corporation on 6 May, 20152

CONCLUSION

2 http://indiankanoon.org/docfragment/185836378/?formInput=misuse%20of%20rti