Right to Information

Act 2005
Flowering of
Democracy-India
The real Swaraj will come not by
the acquisition of authority by a
few but by the acquisition of
capacity by all to resist authority
when abused
-Mahatma Gandhi
Towards Information Revolution
• India’s constitution-Fundamental Rights-Article
19(1) (a)-Freedom of Expression
• Poverty Alleviation Programmes-early 1980s
• Revolution in Information Technology-late 1980s
• Withdrawal of Government monopoly in
Information & Broadcasting-1990s
• Initiatives of civil society-Rajasthan
• Free media
• Right to Information Act, 2005
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‘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’

Right to Information Act 2005

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World Developments
 Sweden 1776-Included in Sweden’s constitution
 Finland(1951)-Law on the Public Character of
Official Documents
 Denmark, Norway 1970s
 USA-1966-By an amendment of 1974 the onus of
justifying restriction of access lies with government-
Law places time limit for responding to requests;all
non-secret information disclosable through
‘severability’;disciplinary action mandated against
officials for wrongful non-disclosure
 UK-2000

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State of UP v Raj Narain(1975)4 SCC 428
“In a government of responsibility like ours,
where all agents of the public must be
responsible for their conduct, there can be but
few secrets. The people of this country have a
right to know every public act, everything that
is done in a public way, by their public
functionaries….to cover with veil of secrecy the
common routine business, is not in the interest
of public”
Mathew J.on behalf of the Bench

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 “I believe that the passage of this Bill will see
the dawn of a new era in our processes of
governance, an era of performance and
efficiency, an era which will ensure that
benefits of growth flow to all sections of our
people, an era which will eliminate the scourge
of corruption, an era which will bring the
common man’s concern to the heart of all
processes of governance, an era which will
truly fulfill the hopes of the founding fathers of
our Republic.”
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Speech in Parliament on May 11, 2005.
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What is Information?

 Information means any material in any form including

records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions,
advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks,
contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data
material held in any electronic form and information
relating to any private body which can be accessed by
a public authority under any other law for the time being
in force -Section 2(f)

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Right to Information:
Key Concepts
 Transparency & Accountability in the working
of every public authority
 The right of any citizen of India to request
access to information and the corresponding
duty of Govt. to meet the request, except the
exempted information (Sec. 8/24)
 The duty of Govt. to pro-actively make
available key information to all (Sec 4).
 A responsibility on all sections: citizenry,
NGOs, Media
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Obligations

 S 4 (1) Every public authority shall - (a)maintain all

its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner
and the form which facilitates the right to information
under this Act and ensure that all records that are
appropriate to be computerized are, within a
reasonable time and subject to availability of
resources, computerized and connected through a
network all over the country on different systems so
that access to such records is facilitated

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What is a Public Authority?

 "public authority" means any authority or body or institution of

self- government established or constituted—
 (a)by or under the Constitution;
 (b)by any other law made by Parliament;
 (c)by any other law made by State Legislature;
 (d)by notification issued or order made by the appropriate
Government, and includes any—
 (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
 (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed,
directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate
Government;

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What does Right to Information mean?

 It includes the right to -

i. inspect works, documents, records.
ii. take notes, extracts or certified copies of documents
or records.
iii. take certified samples of material.
iv. obtain information in form of printouts, diskettes,
floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other
electronic mode or through printouts.[S.2(j)]

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 The RTI Act 2005 - Processes
 Application to be submitted in writing or electronically, with
prescribed fee, to Public Information Officer (PIO).
 Envisages PIO in each department/agency to receive requests and
provide information. Assistant PIO at sub-district levels to receive
applications/appeals/ complaints. Forward to appropriate PIO.These
will be existing officers.
 Information to be provided within 30 days; 48 hours where life or
liberty is involved; 35 days where request is given to Asst. PIO, 40
days where third party is involved and 45 days for human rights
violation information from listed security/ intelligence agencies under
Schedule II.
 Time taken between intimation and acceptance of additional fees
excluded from the time frame-sec 7(3)
 No action on application for 30 days is a deemed refusal-sec 7(2).
 No fee for delayed response-sec 7(6)

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What is not open to disclosure?

 The following is exempt from disclosure [Sec.8]

 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 offence
 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;
Contd.

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 What is not open to disclosure?
Contd

 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
Contd.
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 What is not open to disclosure?
Contd
 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;
 Notwithstanding any of these exemptions or the Official Secrets
Act 1923, a public authority may allow access to information, if
public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the
protected interests-Sec 8(2).

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 RTI Act 2005-Exemptions contd.
 Infringes copyright, except of the state(S 9).
 Where practicable, part of record can be released.
 Intelligence and security agencies exempt (S 24)–
except cases of corruption and human rights violation
 Third party information to be released after giving
notice to third party
 Most exempt information to be released after 20 years
(with some exceptions).
 Provided that the information, which cannot be denied
to the Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be
denied to any person.
 Notwithstanding anything in the Official Secrets Act,
1923 nor any of the exemptions (a to i), a public
authority may allow access to information, if public
interests in disclosure outweighs the harm to the
protected interests.
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 Central Information Commission:
What can I complain about?
 The Central Information Commission is an autonomous body set
up to inquire into complaints received from citizens
 You can complain that you have been refused access to
information. You can also complain about how the public
authority has handled your request, for instance;
+ failure to respond to your request within 30 working days (or
failure to explain why an extension to the 45 days is needed)
+ failure to give you proper advice and help within the stipulated
time
+ failure to give information in the form in which you asked for it
+ failure to properly explain reasons for refusing your request.

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RTI Act 2005 - Penalties
 Penalties
imposable by Information Commission on PIO or officer
asked to assist PIO
 For unreasonable delay – Rs 250 per day up to Rs
25,000
 For illegitimate refusal to accept application, malafide
denial, knowingly providing false information, destruction
of information, etc. – up to Rs. 25,000 fine
 Recommendation for departmental action for persistent
or serious violations
However, no criminal liability
 Immunity from legal action for action taken in good
faith (S. 21).

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RTI Act 2005 - Access
 Universal Access – especially to the Poor
 Fee at a reasonable level – though quantum not
specified. No fee for BPL.
 Assistant Public Information Officers at sub-district
levels to facilitate filing of applications/appeals
 No need to specify reason for seeking information or
personal details other than necessary for
correspondence
 Provision to reduce oral requests into writing
 Provision to provide all required assistance, including to
disabled persons.
 Information to be provided in local languages
 Compensation for damages-Sec 19(8)(b)
 Open only to citizens of India.(Sec 3)

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RTI Act 2005–Responsibilities of Public
Authorities
 Appointing PIOs/Asst. PIOs within 100 days of
enactment (5(1)).
 Maintaining, cataloguing, indexing, computerising
and networking records (4(1)(a)).
 Publishing within 120 days of enactment a whole
set of information and updating it every year
(4(1)(b)).
 Publishing all relevant facts while formulating
important policies or announcing the decisions
which affect public (4(1)(c)).

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RTI Act 2005–Responsibilities of Public
Authorities Contd..
 Providing reasons for its administrative or quasi
judicial decisions to affected persons (4(1)(d)).
 Providing information suo moto (4(2)).
 Providing information to Information Commission
(25(2)).
 Raising awareness, educating and training
(26(1))
 Compiling in 18 months and updating regularly
local language guide to information (26(2) (3)).

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 Public Awareness and Educational Programmes
Sec 26
 Develop and organize educational programmes to
advance the understanding of the public,
particularly the disadvantaged, to exercise right to
information.
 Government to:
 Encourage public authorities to participate in
programmes; promote timely/ effective
dissemination of accurate info on activities.
 Train CPIOs and produce relevant training materials
– user guide and related matter.

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Thank you for
listening!
Website: www.cic.gov.in

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