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RTI Application Format

Right to Information Act ensures that elected officials remain accountable to citizens and cannot arbitrarily use public funds. It empowers citizens, including lawyers, to seek information from the government. RTI has helped uncover several major corruption scams in India. While RTI is an important tool for lawyers, they cannot use it on behalf of clients for cases, as the objects of RTI are for transparency, not personal legal purposes. Lawyers can use RTI for their own information needs but not to promote their legal practice or access client case information.

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677 views3 pages

RTI Application Format

Right to Information Act ensures that elected officials remain accountable to citizens and cannot arbitrarily use public funds. It empowers citizens, including lawyers, to seek information from the government. RTI has helped uncover several major corruption scams in India. While RTI is an important tool for lawyers, they cannot use it on behalf of clients for cases, as the objects of RTI are for transparency, not personal legal purposes. Lawyers can use RTI for their own information needs but not to promote their legal practice or access client case information.

Uploaded by

vaibhav chauhan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Right to Information Act – Tool for Lawyers

Right to Information Act, 2005 ensures that the people we put in power remain
answerable to us always and by no means can they use public funds arbitrarily.
It is one of the most powerful legislations in the hands of the people that
empowers them to seek information from the government. RTI activists have
unveiled some of the most horrific scams like adarsh housing society scam, 2G
scam, commonwealth scam, Red Cross Society Scam, Pratibha Patil land
controversy. Moreover, RTI considered as a tool which is much prevalent for
lawyers at present because there is crucial need of an hour. As the day begin
new cases went in front of the lawyer in respect of which further work has to be
performed, and RTI has very important role to play because at some of the
instances when no hope is there to find solution of the case, RTI act as ray of
hope at that time.

Further, it is also been seen advocates need to know each and every aspect of
his case, so that he can argue well before the court of justice, thus through the
endeavour made by government in form of RTI made advocates well equipped
because now he can question, audit, review, examine, and assess government
acts and decisions to ensure that these are consistent with the principles of
public interests, good governance and justice. RTI Act is one of the most people
friendly legislation ever. Thousands have benefited from it. But it is true that
more than five years after Parliament passed the Act in June 2005, the road to
accessing the information remains arduous.

Nowadays, RTI experts which tend to be lawyers who knows how to frame RTI
application in an appropriate form so that aggrieved can get response promptly
form the concerned government department. Therefore, directly or indirectly
help the advocates to get into this new filed of RTI in which they can also attain
expertise. At some point or another RTI also act as an employment tool for some
of the advocates because they are considered to be the only person who are
grip over this concept. Furthermore, stated above that RTI is important tool for
lawyer but in any of the circumstances if he is asking any information from the
department for his personal cause i.e. in relation to his case that will not be
entertained because RTI is not meant for that. It, is pertinent to note that if any
of the practising lawyer file RTI on behalf of his client for the purpose of suit filed
in the court that will not be tend to be valid. As per the recent ruling of the
Madras High Court which clearly focuses upon this part which states that
practising lawyer cannot file RTI on behalf of his client for the purpose of suit
filed before the court in order to know about the same1. Thus, Madras High court
ruling read as follows:

“The first respondent dismissed the appeal on the premise that the petitioner
being a practicing advocate cannot seek information relating to the cases
instituted by him on behalf of his client. As a citizen he can personally ask for
information but not as an advocate on behalf of his client. The reasoning given
by the first respondent cannot be faulted at all. The second appeal filed by the
petitioner has been rightly rejected, as otherwise, every practising advocate
would invoke the provisions of the RTI Act for getting information on behalf of
his client, which situation does not advance the objects of the scheme of the RTI
Act. The laudable objects of the RTI Act cannot be used for personal ends and
should not become a tool in the hands of the advocate for seeking all kinds of
information in order to promote his practice. In such circumstances, the order of
the first respondent dismissing the second appeal filed by the petitioner does not

1
N.Saravanan vs The Chief Commissioner/2Ndon 15 March, 2017
suffer from infirmity and does not call for interference. Therefore, the writ
petition is devoid of merits and substance and the same is dismissed.”

But, interesting part from which information can be excelled that, as per section
3 of RTI Act, 2005 every citizen of India origin can ask for information and being
an advocate with Indian citizenship can ask for the information too, but the point
which has to be taken into the consideration is that an advocate cannot ask on
someone else behalf that can be his client but he can ask for his own purpose
but not for aforementioned purpose. Thus, RTI acting as a powerful tool in hand
of advocates which also led to excellence in governance and transparency in
many ways.

Hence, at last it’s been clear that yes RTI can act as beneficial tool for advocates,
but on condition, that other should know how to use that in an appropriate way.

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