Right To Information
Act 2005
What makes Right To Information Act 2005 special is its
power and practicality to seek and get information from government authorities.
The law also promoted transparency and accountability in public authorities.
Salient
Features of Right To Information Act 2005
·
Replaced Freedom of Information Act 2002.
·
Jammu and Kashmir has separate Right To Information Act – RTI
2009.
·
RTI relaxes restrictions placed by Official Secrets Act 1923.
·
3 Levels – Public Information Officer, First Appellate
Authority, Central Information Commission(CIC).
·
Time period for Public Information Officer : Expeditiously or
within30 days from
the date of receipt by public authority.
·
Maximum time gap for 1st appeal : 30 days since limit of supply
of information is expired.
·
Time period for Appellate Authority : Within 30 days or in exceptional cases 45 days from
the date of receipt by public authority.
·
Maximum time gap for 2nd appeal : 90 days since limit of supply
of information is expired.
·
RTI act also asks for computerization and proactively publish
information.
·
Bodies applicable under RTI : Constitutional bodies
at center and state ( Legislature, Executive, Judiciary), bodies/NGOs
owned/financed by government, privatized public utility companies.
·
Bodies excluded under RTI : Central Intelligence and Security
Agencies, agencies of state specified through notification. The exclusion is
not absolute.
·
Central Information Commission shall consist of : 1 Chief
Information Commissioner and upto 10 Central Information Commissioners.
·
The Chief Information Commissioner shall hold office for a term
of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office and shall not be
eligible for reappointment.
·
31 sections and 6 chapters in the act.
Section
8 deals with information exempted under the purview of this act.
Jurisdiction
of RTI Act- 2005
Section-1(2): It extends to the whole
of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Definition
Section-
2 (a): "Appropriate Government" means in
relation to a public authority which is established, constituted, owned,
controlled or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly:
(i)
By the Central Government or the Union
territory administration, the Central Government;
(ii)
By the State Government, the State
Government.
Section-
2 (c): "Central Public Information Officer"
means the Central Public Information Officer designated under sub-section
(1) and
includes a Central Assistant Public Information Officer designated as such
under sub-section (2) of section 5.
Section-
2 (e): "Competent Authority" means:
(i)
The Speaker in the case of the House of
the People or the Legislative Assembly of a State or a Union territory having
such Assembly and the Chairman in the case of the Council of States or Legislative
Council of a State;
(ii)
The Chief Justice of India in the case
of the Supreme Court;
(iii)
The Chief Justice of the High Court in
the case of a High Court;
(iv)
The President or the Governor, as the case may be, in the case of other
authorities established or constituted by or under the Constitution;
(iv)
The administrator appointed under
article 239 of the Constitution;
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.
Section-
2 (h): "Public Authority" means any authority or body or
institution of selfgovernment 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 It also 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.
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); and
(d) Any other material
produced by a computer or any other device.
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.
(v)
Section- 2(n): "Third Party"
means a person other than the citizen making a request for information and
includes a Public Authority.
Responsibilities of
Public Authority
Section- 4(1) (a):
Every Public Authority shall 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
computerised are, within a reasonable time and subject to the availability of
resources, computerised and connected through a network all over the country on
different systems so that access to such records is facilitated.
Section- 4 (1) (b):
Public Authority shall publish the following information within 120 (One
Hundred and Twenty) days from the enactment of this Act:
(i)
The particulars of its organisation,
functions and duties;
(ii)
The powers and duties of its officers and
employees;
(iii)
The procedure followed in the decision making
process, including channels of supervision and accountability;
(iv)
The norms set by it for the discharge of its
functions;
(v)
The rules, regulations, instructions, manuals
and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for
discharging its functions;
(vi)
A
statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its
control;
(vii)
The particulars of any arrangement that exists
for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in
relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof;
(viii)
A
statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of
two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice,
and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other
bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible
for public;
(ix)
A
directory of its officers and employees;
(x)
The monthly remuneration received by each of
its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in
its regulations;
(xi)
The budget allocated to each of its agency,
indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on
disbursements made;
(xii)
The manner of execution of subsidy programmes,
including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such
programmes;
(xiii)
Particulars of recipients of concessions,
permits or authorisations granted by it;
(xiv)
Details in respect of the information,
available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form;
(xv)
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;
(xvi)
The names, designations and other particulars
of the Public Information Officers;
Section- 4(1) (c): Public Authority shall publish
all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the
decisions which affect public.
Section- 4(1) (d): Public Authority should provide
reasons for its administrative or quasijudicial decisions to affected persons.
Section-
4 (2): It shall be a constant endeavour of every Public
Authority to take steps in accordance with the requirements of clause (b) of
sub-section (1) of section- 4 to provide as much information suo motu to the
public at regular intervals through various means of communications, including
internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to
obtain information.
Section-
5 (1): Every Public Authority shall, within 100 (One
Hundred) days of the enactment of this Act (July 15, 2005), 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.
Section-
5 (2): Without prejudice to the provisions of sub-section
(1) of Section-5, every Public Authority shall designate an officer, within One
Hundred days of the enactment of this Act, 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 under sub-section (1) of
section 19 or the Central Information Commission or the State Information
Commission, as the case may be. Provided that where an application for
information or appeal is given to a Central Assistant Public Information
Officer or a State Assistant Public Information Officer, as the case may be, a
period of 05 (Five) days shall be added in computing the period for response
specified under sub-section (1) of Section 7.
Responsibilities of Public Information Officer
Section- 5 (3): Every Central Public Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer, as the case may be, shall deal with requests from persons
seeking information and render reasonable assistance to the persons seeking
such information.
Section-
6 (1): A person, who desires to obtain any information
under this Act, 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
specifying the particulars of the information sought by him or her 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.
Provided that where such request cannot be made in
writing, the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information
Officer, as the case may be, shall render all reasonable assistance to the
person making the request orally to reduce the same in writing.
Cause
of Information
Section-
6 (2): 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/her.
Transfer
of Application to another Public Authority
Section-
6 (3): Where an application is made to a Public Authority
requesting for information:
(i)
Which is held by another public
authority; or
(ii)
The subject matter of which is more closely
connected with the functions of another Public Authority
The Public Authority,
to which such application is made, shall transfer the application or such part
of it as may be appropriate to that other Public Authority and inform the
applicant immediately about such transfer.
Such application shall
be transferred within 05 (Five) days from the date of receipt of the
application.
Time
limit for the supply of information
Section-
7 (1): Subject to the proviso to sub-section (2) of
section 5 or the proviso to subsection (3) of section 6, the Central Public
Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, on
receipt of a request under section 6 shall, as expeditiously as possible, and
in any case within 30 (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 any of the reasons specified in sections 8 and 9. If the sought
information concerns the life or liberty of a person, in that case information
shall be provided within 48 (Forty-Eight) hours of the receipt of the request.
Section-
7 (2): If the Central Public Information Officer or State
Public Information Officer, as the case may be, fails to give decision on the
request for information within the period specified under section 7(1), the
Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the
case may be, shall be deemed to have refused the request.
Assistance
to disabled persons
Section- 7 (4):
Where access to the record or a part thereof is required to be provided under
this Act and the person to whom access is to be provided is sensorily disabled,
the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as
the case may be, shall provide assistance to enable access to the information,
including providing such assistance as may be appropriate for the inspection.
Charges
for Information
Section- 7 (5):
Where access to information is to be provided in the printed or in any
electronic format, the applicant shall, subject to the provisions of
sub-section (6), pay such fee as may be prescribed
The fee prescribed
under sub-section (1) of section 6 and sub-sections (1) and (5) of section 7
shall be reasonable and no such fee shall be charged from the persons who are
of below poverty line as may be determined by the appropriate Government.
Supply
of information free of cost
Section-
7 (6): Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section
(5) of section- 5, 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 in sub-section (1).
Reason
to rejection
Section-
7 (8): Where a request has been rejected under sub-section
(1) of Section- 7, the Central Public Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer, as the case may be, shall communicate to the person making
the request,
(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.
Form
of supplied information
Section
7 (9): Information shall ordinarily be provided 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.
Non
disclosure of information
Section-
8 (1): Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act,
there shall be no obligation to give any citizen,
(i)
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;
(ii)
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;
(iii)
Information, the disclosure of which
would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or the State Legislature;
(iv)
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;
(v)
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;
(vi)
Information received in confidence from foreign
Government;
(vii)
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;
(viii)
Information which would impede the
process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders;
(ix)
Cabinet papers including records of
deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers.
Provided that the
decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the
basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision
has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over.
Those matters which
come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed.
(x)
Information which relates to personal
information and 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 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.
The information which cannot be denied to the
Parliament or a State Legislature shall not be denied to any person.
Section- 9: Without prejudice to the provisions of
section 8, a Central Public Information Officer or a State Public Information
Officer, as the case may be, may reject a request for information where such a
request for providing access would involve an infringement of copyright
subsisting in a person other than the State.
Role
of Central/State Information Commission
Section-
18 (1): Subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall be
the duty of the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission,
as the case may be, to receive and inquire into a complaint from any person,
a. Who has
been unable to submit a request to a Central Public Information Officer or
State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, either by reason that no
such officer has been appointed under this Act, or because the Central
Assistant Public Information Officer or State Assistant Public Information
Officer, as the case may be, has refused to accept his or her application for
information or appeal under this Act for forwarding the same to the Central
Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer or Senior
officer (First Appellate Authority) specified in sub- section (1) of section 19
or the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as
the case may be.
b. Who has been refused access to any information
requested under this Act;
c. Who has
not been given a response to a request for information or access to information
within the time limit specified under this Act;
d. Who has been required to pay an amount of fee
which he or she considers unreasonable;
e. Who believes that he or she has been given
incomplete, misleading or false information under this Act; and
First
Appeal
Section-
19 (1): Any person who, does not receive a decision within
the time specified in sub-section (1) or clause (a) of sub-section (3) of
section 7, or is aggrieved by a decision of the Central Public Information
Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, may within
thirty days from the expiry of such period or from the receipt of such a
decision prefer an appeal to such officer who is senior in rank to the Central
Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer as the case may
be, in each Public Authority. Provided that such officer may admit the appeal
after the expiry of the period of thirty days if he or she is satisfied that
the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
Second
Appeal
Section-
19 (3): A second appeal against the decision under
sub-section (1) of Section- 19 shall lie within 90 (Ninety) days from the date
on which the decision should have been made or was actually received, with the
Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission. Provided
that the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as
the case may be, may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of 90
(Ninety) days if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient
cause from filing the appeal in time.
Time limit for decision on First and Second
Appeal
Section- 19 (6):
An appeal under section 19 (1) or section 19 (2) shall be disposed of within 30
(thirty) days of the receipt of the appeal or within such extended period not
exceeding a total of 45 (forty-five) days from the date of filing thereof, as
the case may be, for reasons to be recorded in writing.
Affect
of CIC/SIC judgment
Section-
19 (7): The decision of the Central Information Commission
or State Information Commission, as the case may be, shall be binding.
Section-
19 (8): In its decision, the Central Information Commission
or State Information Commission, as the case may be, has the power to:
(a) Require
the Public Authority to take any such steps as may be necessary to secure
compliance with the provisions of this Act, including:
(i) By
providing access to information, if so requested, in a particular form;
(ii) By
appointing a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information
Officer, as the case may be;
(iii) By publishing certain information or
categories of information;
(iv)
By making necessary changes to its practices
in relation to the maintenance, management and destruction of records;
(v)
By enhancing the provision of training on the
Right to Information for its officials;
(vi)
By providing it with an annual report in
compliance with clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 4;
(b) Require the Public
Authority to compensate the complainant for any loss or other detriment
suffered;
(c) Impose any of the
penalties provided under this Act;
(d) Reject the application
Penalty
on Public Information Officer
Section-
20 (1): Where the Central Information Commission or the
State Information Commission, as the case may be, at the time of deciding any
complaint or appeal is of the opinion that the Central Public Information
Officer or the State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, has,
without any reasonable cause, refused to receive an application for information
or has not furnished information within the time specified under sub-section
(1) of section 7 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, it shall impose a penalty of Rs 250 (Two Hundred and Fifty)
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.
The burden of proving
that he acted reasonably and diligently shall be on the Central Public
Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer, as the case may
be.
This is a branch of raga alapana. It is raga alapana in
Madhyamakala or medium speed. There is perceptible rhythm in this. The
rhythmical flow of music, flowing in fascinating patterns, makes tanam singing
the most captivating part of raga exposition.
