RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005

Introduction:
This legislation may be termed as one of the rarest legislations in the Indian Legal History which
provides for setting out the practical regime of ‘Right to Information’ for Citizens to secure
access to information under the control of public authorities and in order to promote
transparency & 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.
This Legislation will prove to be a ‘Landmark’, since it is enacted NOT for the people to follow
but for the Government to follow.
Through this legislation, the Government has made an attempt to administer itself, be
answerable to the people & penalize itself for lacking in providing the required information and
regain people’s lost confidence in the bureaucratic system and setup.
Extent and Commencement:
This Act extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. This Act of
Parliament received the assent of the President of India on the 15th June, 2005.
Some Important Definitions:
1. Information [Section 2(f)]:
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.
2. Record [Section 2(i)]:
Record includes—
(a) any document, manuscript and file;
(b) any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile copy of a document;
(c) any reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm
(whether enlarged or not)
(d) any other material produced by a computer or any other device.
3. Right to Information [Section 2(j)]:
Right to Information 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 —
(i) inspection of work, documents, records;
(ii) taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;
(iii) taking certified samples of material;
(iv) obtaining information in the form 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.
4. Public Authority [Section 2(h)]:
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 organisation substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided
by the appropriate Government;
Exemption from disclosure of information [Section 8]:
Like any other legislation, this Act also provides for exemptions to the Government from
disclosure of information regarding information – which would cause a breach of privilege of
Parliament or the State Legislature / harm the competitive position of a third party / endanger
the life or physical safety of any person / impede the process of investigation or apprehension or
prosecution of offenders / weaken confidence of the Foreign Government / Disclose the
Records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other Officers / relates to
personal information which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would
cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual unless the Central Public Information
Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, as the case may be, is
satisfied that the larger public interest justifies the disclosure of such information / involve
infringement of copyright.
IMPACT: To hide or avoid giving the required information demanded, the Officers of the
concerned Public Authorities may resort to take advantage of these Exemptions. Hence it may
be necessary for the ‘Information Seeker’ to be clear in his mind about the exact interpretation
of the provisions and exemptions so that he may not be taken for a ride by the officials and can
claim his Right to information rightfully.
Administration of the Act [Section 12]:
A body to be known as the ‘Central Information Commission’ is constituted to exercise the
powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned to, it under this Act. The Central
Information Commission shall consist of— The Chief Information Commissioner and such
number of Central Information Commissioners as may be deemed necessary.
Every State Government shall constitute a body to be known as the _____________ (name of
the State) Information Commission to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the
functions assigned to, it under this Act. The State Information Commission shall consist of
— The State Chief Information Commissioner and such number of State Information
Commissioners as may be deemed necessary.
The Central Information Commission or State Information Commission shall, while inquiring into
any matter under this section, have the same powers as are vested in a civil court while trying a
suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
Every public authority shall designate as many officers as the Central Public Information
Officers or State Public Information Officers, as the case may be, in all administrative units or
offices under it as may be necessary to provide information to persons requesting for the
information under this Act. Every public authority shall designate an officer at each sub-
divisional level or other sub-district level as a Central Assistant Public Information Officer or a
State Assistant Public Information Officer, as the case may be, to receive the applications for
information or appeals under this Act for forwarding the same forthwith to the Central Public
Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or senior officer specified or the
Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as the case may be.
Timeframes within which the desired information should be made available by the
concerned Public Authority:
A person who desires to obtain any information shall make a request in writing or through
electronic means in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the
application is being made, accompanying such fee as may be prescribed, to—
(a) the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may
be, of the concerned public authority;
(b) the Central Assistant Public Information Officer or State Assistant Public Information Officer,
as the case may be, specifying the particulars of the information sought by him or her.
An applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for
requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for
contacting him.
On receipt of a request the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer
shall as expeditiously as possible, and in any case within Thirty Days of the receipt of the
request, either provide the information on payment of such fee as may be prescribed or reject
the request for a reason. If the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information
Officer fails to give decision on the request for information within the said period it shall be
deemed to have refused the request. The person making request for the information shall be
provided the information free of charge where a public authority fails to comply with the time
limits specified.
IMPACT: Making requests for information through electronic means may not be easy
practically, since not all the Public Authority offices are fully computerized and may not have
computer savvy staff. The urban class who may resort to make request through electronic
means may get discouraged. Explanations like, ‘Computer error’, ‘Server down’ may be resorted
to, for avoiding furnishing of information.
Penalties for not making available the desired information:
If without any reasonable cause, the concerned Officer refuses to receive an application for
information or has not furnished information within the time specified or malafidely denied the
request for information or knowingly given incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or
destroyed information which was the subject of the request or obstructed in any manner in
furnishing the information, a penalty of two hundred and fifty rupees each day till application is
received or information is furnished, so however, the total amount of such penalty shall not
exceed twenty-five thousand rupees shall be imposed and / or disciplinary action against the
concerned Officer may be taken. Provided that the Central Public Information Officer or the
State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, shall be given a reasonable opportunity of
being heard before any penalty is imposed or disciplinary action is taken against him.

CONCLUSION:
The enactment of the Right to Information Act, 2005 makes a noteworthy attempt to streamline
the working of the Public Authorities in respect of providing information to the people. The
Authorities will require being technology savvy, alert and need to imbibe in them the not before
attitude, of being answerable to the citizens. The Public Authorities will now require tightening
their belts so as to serve the people and truly contribute to the Information Technology era. As
for the citizens, this Act makes them aware of their one of the Constitutional Rights – Right to
Information and gives them the opportunity to exercise it in good faith.

Right to Information (RTI) is an act of the Parliament of India which sets out the rules and
procedures regarding citizens' right to information. It replaced the former Freedom of
Information Act, 2002. Under the provisions of RTI Act, any citizen of India 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. In case of matter involving a
petitioner's life and liberty, the information has to be provided within 48 hours. 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.[1]

This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 12 October
2005. Every day, over 4800 RTI applications are filed. In the first ten years of the
commencement of the act over 17,500,000 applications had been filed. [2]

RTI is a fundamental right for every citizen of India. The authorities under RTI Act 2005 are
called quasi-judicial authorities. This act was enacted in order to consolidate the fundamental
right in the Indian constitution 'freedom of speech'. Since RTI is implicit in the Right to Freedom
of Speech and Expression under Article 19 of Indian Constitution, it is an implied fundamental
right.
Information disclosure in India is restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various other
special laws, which the new RTI Act relaxes. Right to Information codifies a fundamental right
of the citizens of India. RTI has proven to be very useful, but is counteracted by the Whistle
Blowers Protection Act, 2011.
The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeks to amend Sections 13, 16, and 27 of the
RTI Act. Section 13 of the original Act: It sets the term of the central Chief Information
Commissioner and Information Commissioners at five years (or until the age of 65, whichever is
earlier)