LUCKNOW UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF LAW

ASSIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

OPTIONAL
TOPIC-SALIENT FEATURES OF RTI ACT 2005

SUBMITTED BY- SUBMITTED

TO-
ANJALI SHUKLA RESPECTED
CLASS- LL.B. HONS. MISS
TUSHARIKA
Dubey ma’am
Sem.- 8
Section-A
Univ. ID.-
190013015027
Class roll no.
12
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to all who gave me the

possibility complete this project.

Also, I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to my Subject

teacher, Miss Tusharika Dubey Ma’am under whose valuable guidance, this

assignment work has been carried out.

I would like to extend my special thanks to my parents & friends, without their

support and coordination we would not have been able to complete this project
 RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005
“INFORMATION IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT AND THE FUNDAMENTAL
FOUNDATION OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTION.”

In 2005, India passed the Right to Information Act. India is indeed the 48 th
nation to put the Right to Information into effect. The RTI Act has been
implemented in over 90 countries at this time. There are many different
features of the Right to Information Act 2005. This is one of the very crucial
steps taken by the government of India to have transparency in all the activities
done by them.
The full form of RTI is the right to information, and it is a basic right guaranteed
by the Indian constitution under Article 19(1) . Each individual does have the
right to speak freely and express, according to article 19(1) . The Supreme
Court decided in 1976 that persons cannot communicate or articulate
themselves until they know.
As a result, the Right to Information is a basic right
that is glorified in article 19(1). In a similar case, the court stated that because
India is a democratic and the citizens are the owners, the owners or citizens get
a right to be informed about how the government intends to provide service to
them. Furthermore, because each citizen pays income tax, they have a right to
be informed about how their cash is used.

Background
The campaign for the Right to Information Grassroots
organisations and civil society groups have campaigned for an effective national
right to information law since the 1990s. However, it was only in 2002 that the
Central Government finally took a step forward, passing the Freedom Of
Information Act 2002 (FOI Act). Unfortunately, the Act was never brought into
force and People were never able to exercise their rights under the new law.
 In 2004, however, the newly Elected United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) Government promised to make the right to information more
“progressive, participatory and meaningful”. The National Advisory Council
(NAC) was set up to oversee the UPA Government’s promise and included key
figures in the National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI).
In August 2004, based on Submissions made by the
NCPRI, CHRI, and other civil society groups, the NAC submitted a set Of
recommendations to the Government for amending the FOI Act. Drawing
heavily on the NAC’s recommendations, in December 2004, the Right to
Information Bill 2004 was tabled by The Government in Parliament. The Bill
was finally passed by the Lok Sabha on 11 May 2005 And moved successfully
through the Rajya Sabha on 12 May 2005.
The Right to Information Act 2005 received Presidential assent on 15 June
2005. Some provisions requiring the setting up of a Country-wide system to
give citizens access to information came into force immediately. The RTI Act
became fully operational on 12 October 2005.

The act is one of the most important acts which empowers ordinary citizens to
question the government and its working. This has been widely used by
citizens and media to uncover corruption, progress in government work,
expenses-related information, etc.

The primary goal of the Right to Information Act is

to empower citizens, promote openness and accountability in government
operations, combat corruption, and make our democracy truly function for the
people. It goes without saying that an informed citizen is better equipped to
keep a required track on governance instruments and hold the government
responsible to the governed. The Act is a significant step in informing citizens
about the activities of the government.

All constitutional authorities, agencies, owned and controlled, also those

organisations which are substantially financed by the government comes under
the purview of the act. The act also mandates public authorities of union
government or state government, to provide timely response to the citizens’
request for information.
The act also imposes penalties if the authorities delay in responding to the
citizen in the stipulated time.

Objectives of Right to Information Act 2005

The RTI Act’s main vision is to empower the nation’s people. To accomplish
this, the nation’s leader must seek to enhance openness and accountability in
government activity, eliminate corruption, and enable democracy to truly
operate in the residents’ favour.

People who are better educated are more organised and ready
to maintain a constant eye on the tools of administration and make the
government more answerable to the public. This Act is a significant leap
toward better informing the citizens of a nation about the government’s
operations. The Objectives of the right to information act 2005 are as follows.

 To guarantee that individuals have access to information.

 To encourage information transparency.
 To encourage administration transparency.
 To avoid arbitrary administrative decisions.
 To make sure that public governance is accountable.
 To keep corruption at bay.
 Well-informed citizens are critical to a democracy’s success.
 To make the govt and its agents answerable to the public they govern.
Make the govt more receptive, to put it another way.

Right to information [Section 2(j)]

Section 2(j) defines “right to information”. It means the right to obtain the

information accessible under the RTI Act which is held by or is under the
control of any public authority. Such right includes:

Right of inspection
This refers to the right to look and scrutinise closely the documents, works and
records. Here, no document or its copy is obtained in any form and the
information is simply seen and scrutinised.
Right of taking notes, extracts etc.
Taking notes or extracts means noting down certain information from the
documents. Here, important information is noted down from the documents
and even original extracts from the documents can also be copied. The right
also permits the taking of certified copies of documents or records.

Right to take certified samples of material

A citizen has a right to obtain certified samples of material purchased or used
by the government.

Right to obtain information in electronic mode

Where the information sought is stored in a computer or any other electronic
device, the RTI Act permits the citizen to obtain information in electronic form
such as in the form of tapes, video cassettes, floppies, diskettes etc or in the
form of printouts as well.

Salient features of the Right to Information Act, 2005

 The RTI Act, 2005 empowers the citizen to question the secrecy and
abuse of power practised in governance.
 It is through the information commissions at the central and state levels
that access to such information is provided.
 RTI information can be regarded as a public good, for it is relevant to the
interests of citizens and is a crucial pillar for the functioning of a
transparent and vibrant democracy.
 The information obtained not only helps in making government
accountable but also useful for other purposes which would serve the
overall interests of the society.
 Every year, around six million applications are filed under the RTI Act,
making it the most extensively used sunshine legislation globally.
 These applications seek information on a range of issues, from holding
the government accountable for the delivery of basic rights and
entitlements to questioning the highest offices of the country.
  Using the RTI Act, people have sought information that governments
would not like to reveal as it may expose corruption, human rights
violations, and wrongdoings by the state.
 The access to information about policies, decisions and actions of the
government that affect the lives of citizens is an instrument to ensure
accountability.

Right to Information and Obligations of public authorities: Chapter II

Section -3  of the Act provides for the right of the citizens to obtain information
subject to the provisions of the Act.

Obligations of public authorities: Section 4

Section -4  lists the following obligations of public authorities:

1 . Maintenance of records: Every public authority is required to maintain all its

records duly catalogued and indexed. In order to facilitate access to its records,
the public authority shall ensure that all the records that are appropriate for
computerisation are computerised and connected through a network across
the country on various systems within a reasonable time frame and according
to resource availability.

2. Publication of certain matters: Every public authority is required to publish

certain particulars within 120 days of the enactment of the Act, some of which
are enumerated below:

 the particulars of its organisation, functions, and duties;

 the powers and duties of its officers and employees;
 the procedure followed in the decision-making process, including
channels of supervision and accountability;
 Employee directory of such public authority
 Monthly salary given to employees and officers
 Details of budget allocated to its agencies
 Details regarding manner of execution of subsidy programmes
 Details regarding information held in electronic form
 Particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information
Designation of Public Information Officers: Section 5

 Section 5(1)-  provides

for the designation of Central Public Information
Officers (CPIOs) and State Public Information Officers (SPIOs) by every
public authority within 100 days from the enactment of this Act. Such
officers have a duty to provide information requested under the Act.

Manner of making a request for information

Section 6 (1)-  provides for the manner of making a request by a person who
desires to obtain any information under this Act.

Applicant need not give his details

As per Section 6(2)- a person seeking information under the Act need not
disclose any reason for such request or his personal details except such
information that might be required for contacting him.

Disposal of request: Section 7

Period within which information to be furnished
Section 7(1)-  provides for expeditious disposal of the request for information by
the CPIO/SPIO. The CPIO/SPIO shall within thirty days of receiving the request,
either:

1. Accept the request which means providing information after the fee
prescribed has been paid, or
2. Reject the request for reasons as specified under Section  8 and
Section 9.

CONCLUSION
The major goal of this Act is to give the public the authority to ask questions
about how government machinery works, to encourage effectiveness and
accountability in government activities, to control fraud, as well as to enable
democracy to function for our residents. The Act prohibits the govt from
becoming misled in the respect that it creates the impression that the govt and
its related branches are acting in the best interests of the general population.
The objectives of the right to information act 2005 are very clear that all should
have access to the information.