By Aryan Bhat
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The Right to Information Act 2005 was passed by the
Parliament of India on 15th June 2005 and received the Presidential
assent on 21st June 2005. The Act is meant to ensure transparency
and accountability of the functioning of all ministries and departments of
Government and to make the citizenry a more informed one. The Act also seeks to
reduce corruption in the Government, as the legislation itself was the outcome
of a long drawn anti-corruption struggle.
This Act allows citizens to access any information which is available with public authorities in the prescribed manner. The salient features of the Act are as follows:
Right To Information
The Act empowers citizens with the right to information. Right to information means that a citizen shall have the right to access any information which is available with or is in control of a public authority.
This right allows one to:
- Undertake inspection of any works, documents or records etc.
- Take any notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records
- Take certified samples of material
- Obtain any information in form of cassettes, floppies, tapes or in any other electronic form or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer device
Information, in the Act is very broadly defined to
include records, documents, press releases, opinions, e-mails, circulars,
orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, samples, data material held in either
physical or electronic form.
Q. Which Authorities are Covered Within the Scope of
the Act?
The right of a citizen to obtain any information is only available with respect to a public authority. The Act defines public authority as any authority, institution, organization or body of self-government established or constituted under:
- The Constitution of India
- Any law made by the Parliament
- Any law made by any State Legislature
- Any notification or order by the Central or State Government
Information can also be obtained from any
non-governmental organization or private body substantially financed, directly
or indirectly by the Government. Information can also be sought from any
private body whose information can be accessed by any public authority under
any law.
Q. Which Authorities are Not Included Within This Act?
Not all public authorities are bound under the RTI Act
to provide the information that is sought by a citizen. This is because there
is some sensitive information which needs to be kept confidential by the Govt.
and thus, cannot be brought in the public domain. Such authorities include Intelligence
and Security Organizations specified by the Central/State Government.
However, if any information is sought that pertains to
any allegation of corruption or human rights violation by these organizations,
they shall be bound to share such information. The information can be shared
only with the approval of the Central Information Commission or the respective
State Information Commission and shall be provided within 45 days of the
receipt of such request.
Q. How To Ask For Any Information Under The Act?
Any person seeking any information shall make a
request to the Central Public Information Officer (in case of Central Govt.) or
the State Public Information Officer (in case of State Govt.) either in written
or verbal form. The request can be made in English, Hindi or any official
language of the State. The written application shall include the particulars of
the information that is needed. If the applicant orally requests for any
information, it is the duty of the Public Information Officers to reduce his
request in writing.
Fee shall also be paid as has been stipulated under
the RTI Rules of 2012. The application fee under these rules is Rs.10/.
Applicants who fall below the poverty line shall not pay any application fees.
The fees can be paid via cash, demand draft/bankers’ cheque/Indian Postal Order
or through electronic means. It is also recommended that any application asking
for any information shall not ordinarily exceed 500 words (excluding annexures).
However, any application whose words exceed 500 is not a valid ground for
denial to disclose the information.
An applicant asking for such information cannot be
asked the reasons for wanting it. No personal details shall be taken from
him/her except contact details. There is also no need to mention reasons for
the same in the application.
The Public Information Officer, on receipt of the application, shall provide the information sought within thirty working days. In case the information sought pertains to life and liberty of a person, the same shall be provided within forty eight hours of the receipt of application. If no reply is received from the Public Information Officer within the specified period, the application is considered to have been rejected. Denial to provide the information requested by the applicant shall be justified by mentioning specific reasons as mentioned above. The PIO shall also mention:
- The period within which an appeal against such rejection may be preferred
- The particulars of the appellate authority.
There is no set format for an RTI application.
However, State Governments have also published their model formats for the
convenience of citizens. It is recommended that one follows the model format,
though not following the same cannot be an excuse to not provide the
information sought by the applicant. The model format for RTI Application
issued by the Govt of Delhi can be found here.
RTI Applications can also be filed online now by
creating an account at https://rtionline.gov.in/. Detailed guidelines to file RTI online
through this site can be accessed here.
Part 2 of this article deals with the appeal process if
a request for information under the Act is denied and
For
the full Right to Information 2005 Act, click here.
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Aryan Bhat is a 2nd year law student at National Law University Delhi. A Potterhead, his other favourite authors in fiction include Khalid Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri and Ruta Septys. Besides fiction, he enjoys to read about political and social issues too. He plays chess as a leisure activity. While he is willing to explore any area of law, he finds himself particularly drawn towards Intellectual Property, Corporate Law and Criminal Law.
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