RIGHT TO INFORMATION

Right to information Act, 2005

The major reason to device such an act is to promote transparency and accountability in the
working of the public bodies and to deal with corruption which are critical to ensure good
governance and development of nation.

Definition of information.
According to the law, the term ‘Information’ has been defined as any material in the form of
record, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press release, circulars, orders, logbooks,
contracts, reports, papers etc in electric form and information relating to any private body
which can be accessed easily by a public authority under any other law for time being in force.

Objective:-
 To provide a mechanism to grant right to information for the citizens to secure access
to information under the control of the public authorities, in order to promote
transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority.
 The constitution of Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions.

Importance of RTI
1. Accessibility: It gave poor people access to know about the working of government.
Inclusiom of RTI under article 21 of Constitution of India as a fundamental right reveals its
importance.

2. Empowerment: RTI act democratized the information and decentralized the power. Power
no more remains confined to select few, rather it was made available equally to all the citizens.
So, undoubtedly RTI serves as a great tool of empowerment for the common people.

3. Participation: RTI act facilitated the participation of citizens in governance process. People
showed interest in various schemes of government and sought information regarding various
issues effecting their lives and well-being.

4. Accountability: RTI act empowered the people to seek definite and direct answer from the
officials of their works or lack of it.

5. Transparency: RTI act has the potentiality to tackle with this rampant corruption in both at
grass root level and at power corridors of high and mighty. After enactment of this act, many a
cases of corruption came to light. From the Commonwealth Games to the 2G scam, RTI queries
have been the starting point of exposure in a score of recent cases of corruption. It is the most
powerful weapon in hands of common people to challenge the impenetrable fortress of
officialdom.

Key Provisions of RTI Act:-

 Empowers every citizen to seek information from the public funded organizations in a
time bound manner.
 Suo-motu disclosure of information:- The law provides for transparency guidelines for
the government's functioning through the suo-motu disclosure.

 Three Tier Structure for enforcing Right to Information Under the Act: Public
Information Officers and Provisions for two appeals.
 Public Authorities designate some of their officers as Public Information Officers
(PIOS).
 The first request for information goes to Public Information Officer. They are
required to provide information to an RTI applicant within 30 days of the request
(48 hours where information concerns the life or liberty of a person)
 Penalty for willful default for government officials.
 Appeals from PIOs decision goes to the First Appellate authority (within the
public authority itself). The disposal of case should be done in 30 days (45 days in
exceptional cases -reasons to be provided in writing) from the date of filing
appeal.
 Appeal against from order of First Appellate Authority goes to State Information
Commission or the Central Information Commission.
 No time limit for disposal of 2nd appeal.

Which information can be disclosed under RTI ?

 Citizens can ask anything that the government can disclose to the parliament. According
to RTI Act, the information which can't be denied to the parliament or a state legislature
cannot be denied to any citizen.
 Section 8(1) and Section 9 of the act enumerate the category of information which are
exempt from disclosure it includes information Related to security and sovereignty,
forbidden by any court of law, information which may result in breach of privilege of
Parliament or State legislature, trade secrets, IPRS, received in confidence from foreign
government, can harm relations with foreign countries related to individual safety or
liberty, cabinet records of deliberation of council of ministers.
 Cabinet papers are exempt until a decision has been implemented. However discussions
within cabinet can never be disclosed.
Apolitical Appointment Process
The Central Information Commission consist of 1 Chief Information Commissioner and not more
than 10 Information Commissioner. They are appointed by President on the recommendation
of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and a
Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.

Exemptions of RTI
I. Information which would harm sovereignty, security, unity and integrity of India.
II. Information which has been forbidden to be published by court of law or any
tribunal.
III. Information whose publication can cause breach of privileges of Parliament and
state legislature.
IV. Information received in confidence from foreign government.
V. Information whose disclosure may endanger the life or safety of any person or
identify the source of information or assistance given in support of any law
enforcement.
VI. Cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers,
Secretaries and other officials.
VII. Several agencies such as RAW, CBI, CID, CRPF, BSF, Narcotics Control Bureau etc.
are also exempted from purview of this act.

Performance of act:-
 Since it came in force, The RTI Act has been used to fight corruption and has exposed
the deep rooted graft in the country, such as big scams like the Adarsh Housing Society
scam, 2G scam, the commonwealth scam, Vyapam Scam etc.
 It has helped official to make officials more efficient and accountable.

Some problems being faced by RTI

 Large number of pending appeals and cases.

 This is due to lack of resources (mostly staff crunch). In many states, the commissions
are not able to work at their full capacity owing to vacancies, resulting in a pile-up of
appeals.
 High percentage of cases being returned. For ex. in case of Delhi, more than 40% of the
cases are being returned citing technicalities and is thus defeating the very purpose of
the act.
 Lack of diversity among ICs and CICs.
 The act provides that 'Person of Eminence’ in public life can become information
commissioner.
  So around 60% of ICs and 87% of CICs have been former civil servants. Very often,
positions are occupied by bureaucrats who can have more tilt in favour of government
of the day.
 Also, sometimes public authorities delay or do not give information, leading to
harassment of RTI users.

HOW RTI CAN BE MADE MORE EFFECTIVE?

 Proactive declaration of the information by the government as stipulated in RTI law will
reduce application. Section 4 of the act require the suo-motu publishing of information,
but is being ignored by many state departments.
 Putting all RTI replies on government websites will also curb unnecessary applications.
 Stricter fines and penalty provisions and its proper implementation is required.
Currently, the fines are rarely imposed, thus officers give incomplete, vague or
unconnected information to applicants with impunity.
 Provide a time domain within which CIC must act on appeals.
 For second appeal, not time limit has been prescribed for is disposal, leaving
information activists vulnerable to threats. If this change is brought, this will also help in
disposing an estimated 30,000 cases pending before CIC.
 Develop a reliable online system to apply for information, easy mechanism for paying
application fees etc could go a long way in increasing the effectiveness of RTI.
 Bring Political parties under RTI through political consensus and will.
 Private organizations and NGOs which impinges the life of citizens must come under
purview of RTI act.
 Information must be provided in understandable form and if demanded should be
provided in regional languages.
 Disperse necessary information on govt. websites which can be accessed easily.
 Use Official Secret Act judicially not as a detterent to RTI.

RECOMMENDATIONS BY 2ND ARC

 Repeal Official Secrets Act (OSA) and some of its anti-espionage provisions to be
included under National Security Act.
 Oath of Secrecy administered to the minister should be replaced with an oath of
transparency.
 Reduce Monopoly of government on selection committee.
 Replace the Cabinet Minister by the Chief Justice of India at the Central Level and the
Chief Justice of the respective High Courts at the level of the state.
 Draw atleast 50% of Information Commissioner from outside bureaucracy.
  Set up Public Records Offices at the Central and State level. This has been done in
recognition of the poor state of management of public records all over India.
 Set up a single window system at district level to receive applications. This will create
convenience for citizens who presently face difficulties in identifying the correct PIOs.
 A National Coordination Committee (NCC) may be set up under chairpersonship of Chief
Information Commissioner with the Nodal Union Ministry, SICs and representatives of
state as members.
 Awareness campaign may be entrusted to credible non-profit organizations at state
level.
 Suo moto disclosure should also be available in form of printed priced publication in
official language.
 Civil services rules of all states may be reworded in such a manner that disclosure of full
and accurate information under RTI is a duty in good faith.

Important Judgments

 In the State of UP vs Raj Narain (1975) case, the Supreme Court declared that right to
freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a) included the right to
know every public act everything that is done in a public way and by their public
functionaries. This was the first time the Supreme Court had established that citizen's
right to known arises from the fundamental right of speech and expression guaranteed
by the Constitution.

 In S.P. Gupta vs UOI (1981), the Supreme Court reiterated that right to know is implicit
in right to free speech and expression and disclosure regarding the functioning of the
government must be a rule.

 In People's Union of Civil Liberties vs UOL (2004), the right to information was further
elevated to the status of human right, necessary for making governance transparent and
accountable. It also emphasized that governance must be made participatory.

CONCLUSION

In spite of the above mentioned deficiencies, apprehensions and operational shortcomings, the
Right to Information has unquestionably proved to be one of the significant milestones towards
ensuring the participatory and transparent development process in the country.

However, there is a need to continue the impetus of the law and it shouldn't be allowed to be
weakened at any cost. All stakeholders should remain dedicated and cautious so that objective
and purpose of the act is not frustrated by bureaucratic or legislative manipulation. Therefore,
RTI is considered as the fifth pillar of democracy.
RIGHT TO INFORMATION AMENDMENT BILL, 2019
Provisions RTI Act, 2005 RTI (Amendment) Bill,
2019

Term of CIC and ICs (at Section 13: Tenure of 5 years or Central government will
central and state levels) 65 years of age whichever is notify the term of office
earlier. for the CIC and other
ICs.

Quantam of salary The salaries and allowances of The bill give central
CIC and ICs (at the central level) government the power
will be equal to the salary paid to regulate salaries and
to chief election commissioner allowances of ICs from
and election commissioners time to time as per their
respectively. will.

The salaries and allowances

and other terms and conditions
of services of CIC and SIC shall
be same as that of EC and other
chief secratary of the state
government respectively.

Thus, in terms of salaries CIC, IC

and SCIC are equivalent to the
judeges of Supreme Court.

Deductions in salary The Act states that at the time The bill removes this
of the appointment of the CIC provisions.
and ICs (at the provisions
central and state level), if they
are receiving pension or any
other retirement benefits for
previous government service,
their salaries will be reduced by
an amount equal to the
pension.
Criticism:-

 Dilutes the independence of Central and State Information Commissioners

 Guarantee of tenure is an important structural constituent of any independent

oversight institution.
 CIC and ICs dependent on government for their term and salary will not be able
to function independently.

 Goes against federal structure of Indian constitution

 The original act recognizes the sovereign authority of states to select their SICs, the
2019 bill doesn't allow states to decide their term status and salary Centre will
prescribe it from time to time.
 Thus, the bill can be seen as an affront to federal polity which is basic structure of
the constitution of India.

 The bill goes against norms of transparency, something at the core of Right to
Information.

 RTI is a legislation which had broad base of people's representation,

consultation and discussion. It is a truly democratic piece of legislation which
has empowered people to challenge the mis-governance.
 But the 2019 amendment are pushed without any citizen's consultation,
examination the standing committee, consultation with civil society and the
state governments.

What is government's stand?

 The functions being performed by Election Commission of India and Central and State
Information Commissions are totally different.
 The Election Commission is a constitutional body established under article 324(1) of the
constitution whereas, the Central Information Commissions and State Information
Commissions are statutory bodies playing different role. Hence, there status and service
conditions need to be rationalized accordingly.

Criticism of the above stand

 Right to Vote and Right to Information are inalienable part of Freedom of Speech
mentioned in Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution and has been held so on many
occasions by the SupremeCourt, thus it can't be said that CIC in any way is less
important than CEC.
  Moreover, there is nothing wrong in providing more autonomy to a statutory body
which play an important role of checks and balances over government (e g. Information
Commission, Election Commission, CVC etc.

Conclusion

 An independent Information Commission which is the highest authority on information

along with powers to penalize errant officials has been a cornerstone of India's
celebrated RTI legislation.
 The government should consult all the stakeholders and relook at the provisions of this
amendment. The issues raised by experts, civil society organizations etc should be
looked into.
 Moreover, government should also consider steps such as ensuring suo-motu disclosure,
fixing a time frame to dispose of appeal, filing of all the vacancies and an effective,
simple online system for applying for information to make the RTI Act more effective.