RTI-pdf.pdf

RIGHT TO INFORMATION
(RTI): Concept, Scope and
Features
CONTENT WRITER:
DR. RUPAK CHAKRAVARTY
A S S I S T A N T P R O F E S S O R , D E P A R T M E N T O F
LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, PANJAB
UNIVERSITY, CHANDIGARH

Flow of information
● Historically:
○ In government, traditionally opaque
● Now:
● Factors influencing the flow:
○ Bureaucratic culture
○ Illiteracy
○ Absence of effective communication tools

“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.

“Record” includes:
● Any document, manuscript and file
● Any microfilm, microfiche, and facsimile copy of a
document
● Any reproduction of image or images embodied in
such microfilm (whether enlarged or not); and
● Any other material produced by a computer or any
other device

● It has been given the status of a fundamental right
under Article 19(1) of the Constitution.
● Article 19(1) says that every citizen has freedom of
speech and expression.
● 1976, the Supreme Court said in the case of
Rajnarayan Vs State of U.P., that people can not
speak or express themselves unless they know.
● Therefore, Right to Information is embedded in
Article 19 and is a fundamental right.

What is RTI?
● As an Act, RTI came into force on 12th October, 2005.
● The Act provides effective access to information for
citizens of India, which is under the control of the
public authorities.
● It mandates timely response to citizen requests for
government information.
● It promotes transparency and accountability in the
working of every public authority.
● It extends to the whole of India except the state of
Jammu and Kashmir.

● India is a democracy.
● People are the masters.
● Therefore, the masters have a right to know how the
governments, meant to serve them, are functioning.
● Further, every citizen pays taxes.
● The citizens therefore, have a right to know how their
money was being spent.
● The objective of the Act was revolutionary when seen
in the Indian context, as it opened all official
departments across the country to public scrutiny.

● The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to
empower the citizens, promote transparency and
accountability in the working of the Government,
contain corruption, and make our democracy work
for the people in real sense.
● An informed citizen is better equipped to keep
necessary vigil on the instruments of governance and
make the government more accountable to the
governed. The Act is a big step towards making the
citizens informed about the activities of the
Government.

RTI includes the right to:
● Inspect works, documents, and records
● Take notes, extracts, or certified copies of
documents/ records.
● Take certified samples of material.
● Obtain information in form of printouts, diskettes

Public Authority
● It means any authority or body or institution of
self-government established or constituted:
● by or under the Constitution;
● by any other law made by Parliament;
● by any other law made by State Legislature;
● by notification issued or order made by the
appropriate Government and includes any-
○ body owned, controlled or substantially financed
○ non-Government organization substantially financed
directly or indirectly by the appropriate Government.

Obligations of Public Authorities
● It shall publish within 120 Days of the enactment:-
● the particulars of its organization, functions and
duties;
● the powers and duties of its officers and employees;
● the procedure followed in its decision making
process, including channels of supervision and
accountability;
● the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;

● The rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records
used by its employees for discharging its functions;
● A statement of the categories of the documents held by it or
under its control;
● The particulars of any arrangement that exists for
consultation with, or representation by the members of the
public, in relation to the formulation of policy or
implementation thereof;
● A statement of the boards, councils, committees and other
bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted by it.
Additionally, information as to whether the meetings of
these are open to the public, or the minutes' of such
meetings are accessible to the public;

● A directory of its officers and employees;
● The monthly remuneration received by each of its officers
and employees, including the system of compensation as
provided in its regulations;
● The budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the
particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports
on disbursements made;
● The manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including
the amounts allocated and the details and beneficiaries of
such programmes;
● Particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or
authorizations granted by it;

● Details of the information available to, or held by it,
reduced in an electronic form;
● The particulars of facilities available to citizens for
obtaining information, including the working hours
of a library or reading room, if maintained for public
use;
● The names, designations and other particulars of the
Public Information Officers.

Public Information Officers (PIOs)
● PIOs are officers designated by the public authorities in all
administrative units or offices under it to provide
information to the citizens requesting for information under
the Act.
● Any officer, whose assistance has been sought by the PIO for
the proper discharge of his or her duties, shall render all
assistance and for the purpose of contraventions of the
provisions of this Act, such other officer shall be treated as a
PIO.
● Every public authority shall have to appoint a PIO,
irrespective of the size of its office / administrative unit.
● This includes Panchayats/Municipalities (or any local
authority). It is pertinent here to note that the Assistant
(APIO) is not an assistant to the PIO.

Duties of a PIO:
● PIO shall deal with requests from persons seeking information
and where the request cannot be made in writing, to render
reasonable assistance to the person to reduce the same in writing.
● If the information requested for is held by or its subject matter is
closely connected with the function of another public authority,
the PIO shall transfer, within 5 days, the request to that other
public authority and inform the applicant immediately.
● PIO may seek the assistance of any other officer for the proper
discharge of his/her duties.
● PIO, on receipt of a request, shall as expeditiously as possible,
and in any case within 30 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 any of the reasons specified in
S.8 or S.9.

● Where the information requested for concerns the life or liberty of
a person, the same shall be provided within forty-eight hours of
the receipt of the request.
● If the PIO fails to give decision on the request within the period
specified, he shall be deemed to have refused the request.
● Where a request has been rejected, the PIO shall communicate to
the requester –
○ (i) the reasons for such rejection,
○ (ii) the period within which an appeal against such rejection may be
preferred, and
○ (iii) the particulars of the Appellate Authority.
● PIO shall provide information in the form in which it is sought
unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the
Public Authority or would be detrimental to the safety or
preservation of the record in question.

Exemption from Disclosure:
● 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;
● 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;
● Information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical
safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance
given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes;
● 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 the exemptions listed above, a public authority
may allow access to information, if public interest in disclosure
outweighs the harm to the protected interests.

Application Procedure for
requesting information:

Mode Writing or through electronic means
Format of Application There is no prescribed format of application for
seeking information. The application can be
made on plain paper. The application should,
however, have the name and complete postal
address of the applicant.
Language English or Hindi or in the official language of the
area
Reason for seeking Information Not to be given.
Assistance available to the Applicant for
filing RTI application
If a person is unable to make a request in writing,
the PIO should render him reasonable assistance.
Where a decision is taken to give access to a
sensorily disabled person to any document, the
PIO, shall provide such assistance to the person
as may be appropriate for inspection.
Fees As prescribed. Reasonable.
If further fees are required, then the same must
be intimated in writing with calculation details of
how the figure was arrived at
Not applicable for citizens below poverty line
(BPL) category. Applicant must be provided
information free of cost if the PIO fails to comply
with the prescribed time limit.

Time Limit Normal: 30 days from the date of application
Life and Liberty: For matters involving "Life
and Liberty", the time limit for the Public
Information Officer to provide information is 48
Hours.
5 days shall be added to the above response time,
in case the application for information is given to
Assistant Public Information Officer.
If the interests of a third party are involved then
time limit will be 40 days (maximum period +
time given to the party to make representation).
Failure to provide information within the
specified period is deemed refusal.
Ground for rejection If it is covered by exemption from disclosure.
If it infringes copyright of any person other than
the State.

Online Certificate Course on
Right To Information (RTIOCC):
● The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Ministry of
Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India
(GoI) has launched an 'Online Certificate Course on Right To
Information' (RTIOCC) for various stakeholders.
● This Online Certificate Course on RTI is launched in association
with the Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad.
● It also provide a– RTI Portal Gateway (http://rti.gov.in/) to the
citizens for quick search of information on the details of first
Appellate Authorities, PIOs etc. amongst others, besides access to
RTI related information / disclosures published on the web by
various Public Authorities under the government of India as well
as the State Governments.
● Users can also take up RTI quiz online to test their knowledge on
RTI.

Duration Scope
7-Day Online Course (English) Introductory in nature
15-Day Online Certificate
Course (English)
Extensive and with a practical
orientation whereby candidates will have
to apply an RTI application during the
Course period.
The 15-day course will be based on the
principle of "learning while doing".
Therefore, it is requested that those who
take the 7-day course follow it up with
the 15-day course for in depth
understanding and utility of the RTI Act.

Public Sector Unit (PSU):
● PSUs fall within the category of public authorities.
● Even if the law constituting a PSU does not allow disclosure
of certain categories of information, the RTI Act, 2005
overrides any such law in existence.
● Hence the designated PIO for the organisation under
question has to provide the information.
● However, if an applicant seeks information, that includes
commercial confidence, trade secrets or Intellectual
Property Rights (IPRs) etc. the disclosure of which will
affect the competitive position of that PSU, such
information may not be given unless there is a larger public
interest involved.

Traditional Practices:
Verbal Communication
● Government offices have been providing information to
people on the basis of their oral requests in the past.
● The RTI Act does require such informal practices to end as
there is no need to discontinue the conventional and
informal practice of giving information upon oral request.
● The RTI Act does not put an end to such practices. If
information can be given without delay upon oral request it
is better to give such information to the requester rather
than require him/her to put in a formal application.
● This helps reduce paper work for the public authority

Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs):
● As per the Central Information Commission (CIC)
“the assessment reports by the superior officers are
personal and confidential information and therefore
exempted under Section 8 (1) (j) of the RTI Act”.
● The CIC maintains the ‘Annual Performance
Appraisal Reports’ cannot be shared as they are
confidential in nature.

Answer Scripts:
● Students cannot have access to answer scripts /
supplements and cannot ask for copies or inspection
of their answer scripts if they are unhappy with the
marks awarded by the examiner in public
examinations.

Multiple Public Authorities:
● In several states more than one public authority are
notified within every department from the secretariat
level to the district and sub-district levels.
● Every such public authority will have to develop its
own proactive disclosure documents or Information
Handbooks unique to its powers, functions, area of
operation etc.

Voluntary Disclosure:
Workload Reduction
● If Public authorities disclose certain information
which is important to the public voluntarily at every
level of operation systematically it will reduce the
workload of officials and public authorities with
regard to the requirement of providing information
on request.
● This is because the information which is regularly
needed by the public can be accessed by them
without the need of going through a process of
making specific request.

17 manuals:
● There are 17 categories of information that a public
authority is required to prepare and disseminate
proactively through handbooks, notice boards, print
and electronic media etc.

Penalty:
● It is advisable to publish as much information as possible under
Section 4(1) (b) within the deadline and give it wide media
publicity so that people know that the public authority/
department is earnest about implementing the law.
● Any person can make complaint to the relevant Information
Commission under Section 18 (1) (f) of the Act and the
Commission may even require the public authority to compensate
the complainant for any loss or other detriment suffered.
● The Information Commission has the power under Section 19(8)
(a)(vi) to receive from a public authority an annual compliance
report in relation to Section 4 (1) (b).
● This reporting mechanism will technically make the public
authority answerable to the Information Commission for all acts
of commission and omission in relation to proactive disclosure.

Scope and limitations
on information sought
● The Act does not permit rejection of an application simply
because it relates to a large number of documents.
● An applicant can ask for 20 to 30 different kinds of
information in the same application and cannot be asked to
apply afresh.
● If the information published under Section 4 (1) (b) of the
Act is comprehensive and proper information systems are
maintained to enable such publication, even if an applicant
requests for many pieces of information, the same can be
provided to the applicant without much difficulty.

● Appropriate record management systems need also
to be instituted.
● A PIO can request the applicant to visit his/her office
personally on a notified date and time to inspect the
required documents or files.
● Under Section 7 (9), information shall be provided in
the form in which it is sought unless it would
‘disproportionately’ divert the resources of the public
authority.
● The PIO has to determine and justify what constitutes
‘disproportionately divert resources’.

● If the same kind of information is sought by more than one
person it should be made available to all such requesters.
● However it is advisable that such records be digitized as far
as possible and uploaded on the Internet to facilitate easy
access.
● If the information requested by a citizen has already been
proactively disclosed a PIO cannot refuse to accept the
request and it should be provided to a citizen on request in
the available formats upon payment of fees/charges at rates
prescribed by the Government.

Misuse and Abuse of RTI:
Myths and Realities
● It is inaccurate to assume that some elements may
misuse RTI and use the information to blackmail/
threaten officers.
● On the contrary, the Act actually prevents blackmail
to honest and sincere officers as it requires making as
much information as possible available with the
public authorities in the public domain may.
● An honest and sincere officer need not fear blackmail
at all.
● The strict adherence to the law would facilitate
smooth functioning of such officers as they will be
protected by law.

● If disclosure of building plans and designs would
prejudicially affect the economic or security interests
of the State or if they relate to commercial
confidence, or trade secrets or intellectual property
rights, the disclosure of which would harm the
competitive position of a third party, then such
information would attract exemption under the Act.
● However, if the concerned authority is satisfied that
larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such
information, the same can be disclosed.

Conclusion
● RTI paves the way for the information society wherein people
enjoy information democracy.
● RTI strives for right information to the right person at right time,
in right spirit, at right cost and in right format with adherence to
minimal exceptions, duty to inform (Suo moto disclosures),
accountability provisions, provisions for setting-up systems to
maintain records and store information for easy retrieval,
reasonable fee structure to obtain information, time limits for
providing information.
● RTI can lead to a corruption free society where the governments
(local, regional and national) are more accountable and
transparent with protection of privacy and protection of whistle
blowers (an informant who exposes wrong doing within an
organization in the hope of stopping it).

● However, the wider acceptance to RTI will come through
wider publicity and training at different levels.
● The Right to Information Act is one of the biggest
achievements of Indian democracy.
● The Act, which is one of the most powerful legislations of its
kind in the world, is also to the closest to the citizen’s heart.
● It has empowered the citizenry in an unprecedented manner
to participate in nation building by promoting transparency
and accountability in the working of every public authority.

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