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    A Layman’s Guide to The Right to Information Act, 2005
    A Layman’s Guide to The Right to Information Act, 2005
    A Layman’s Guide to The Right to Information Act, 2005
    Ebook95 pages1 hour

    A Layman’s Guide to The Right to Information Act, 2005

    By Swetang Rataboli

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    About this ebook

    The Right to Information Act, 2005, enacted by the Government of India, has become powerful tool in the hands of a common man in fighting corruption and keeping a tab over the functioning of the Governments at the center and at various states in India. The Right to Information Act, 2005 provides ample powers to the authorities established under it, to punish the guilty for non abidance of the provisions and tenets of the Act. Though the Act is very efficacious, the layman finds it difficult to have his way around the intricacies of the Act. Even the Government officials and officers established under the Act are to found to have difficulty in understanding their rights and duties under the Act. This Book is a Common man's approach to the Right to Information Act, 2005. This Book is aimed at simplifying the concepts under the Act and thereby making the Act easier to understand. This Book also comes with ready drafts of applications for information, appeals before the appellate authority and the Commissions established under the Act and the bare act appended at the end for easy reference.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHouse of Law Publications
    Release dateJun 25, 2019
    ISBN9781393784692
    A Layman’s Guide to The Right to Information Act, 2005

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      A Layman’s Guide to The Right to Information Act, 2005 - Swetang Rataboli

      Preface

      The Right to Information Act, 2005 ( hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’ ) is aimed at providing greater transparency and accountability among the public authorities and various government departments at the Centre and the State. The Government of India resolved that in order to ensure greater and more effective access to information, the erstwhile Freedom of Information Act, 2002 must be made more progressive, participatory and meaningful.

      The important changes that were incorporated in new act include establishment of an appellate machinery with investing powers to review decisions of Public Information Officers, penal provisions for failure to provide information as per law, provisions to ensure maximum disclose and minimum exemptions, consistent with the constitutionals provisions, and effective mechanism for access to information and disclosure by public authorities among others. The Right to information bill was passed by both the Houses of the Parliament and received the president’s assent on 15th June 2005. The Act came into force in phases, having the sections mandating the designation and establishment of authorities, collection, storage and organization of information, coming into force at once and the remaining sections governing the disseminationof information, appeals and penalties among others coming into force one hundred and twenty days after the enactment of the Act.  

      The Act is powerful tool to curb corruption and ensure smooth and systematic governance. The Act grants every citizen, a right to access information.  Refusal of access to information held or controlled by any public authority can only be on certain grounds which are provided in the Act therein. The Act provides for the designation of Public Information Officers along with an appellate authority at State and Central level, for every public authority in India. It also provides for State and Central Information Commissions which are entrusted with the duties of superintending the subordinate authorities under, entertaining complaints and penalizing errant officers.

      Most citizens, who are unfamiliar with the interpretation of legal statutes and understanding legal jargon, find it difficult to have their way around the beneficial legislation i.e. the Act. It is also not very uncommon to see that even the Government officers themselves also struggle in understanding the basics of the Act and hence are unaware of their rights and duties. This Book is aimed at breaking the down the said Act, making it simple to interpret and comprehend, for the layman and the Government Officers alike. 

      What is Information under the Act

      The Act defines information under section 2(f) as under:-

      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.

      Information can mean any material in existence and cannot mean and include something that is not in existence or has to be created.  The Act does not require the public authority to create information for its dissemination. An opinion or an advice, if being a part of a record is ‘information’ but one cannot seek from the public authority either an ‘opinion’ or ‘advice’ which would be in effect seeking a decision from the public authority.

      The High Court of Bombay At Goa in Dr. Celsa Pinto V/s Goa State Information Commission( Writ petition No. A19 of 2007) held that "the definition of information cannot include within its fold answers to the question ‘why’, which would be same thing as asking the reason for a justification of a particular thing.

      Therefore public authorities cannot be expected to answer as to why something has not been done, or whether if there is a provision within a statute to do a particular thing etc. Generally put, if anything requires adjudication, taking a decision, forming an opinion, speculation or providing a justification for something, the public authority is not obligated to provide the same under the provisions of the Act.

      Only information that is actually stored or available or accessible by the public authority concerned such as reports, records, applications, licenses, certificates, plans, bills, schedule etc, which any person if permitted would be able to physically access, is information under the Act.  Irrespective of what form it is stored in, if it can be accessed its information within the Act.

      Every Citizens Right to Information and Public Authorities

      The Right to Information Act, 2005 provides that all citizens shall have the right to access information held or controlled by a public authority. It is not uncommon to see applicants making a statement, in their application for information under the Act, that the applicant is a citizen of India. A plain reading of section 3 of the Act makes it clear that while it is said that all citizens shall have the right to access information, neither the section nor the Act explicitly prohibit non-citizens from accessing information held by public authorities.  The Act states what constitutes information, what information can be accessed and what information is barred from being accessed for specific

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