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Ask
and Ye Shall Receive: The Right to Information Act, 2005
The
Right to Information Act, 2005 (the "Act") is a statute
enacted to promote transparency and accountability in the working
of every public authority by providing every Indian citizen with
a statutory right to information. The Act in its entirety has
come into force from October 12, 2005. Earlier, on June 15, 2005
certain provisions relating to the obligations of public authorities,
designation of Public Information Officers, constitution of Central
and State Information Commissions, etc. had come into force. The
Act extends to the whole of India, except for the State of Jammu
and Kashmir. The Act has repealed The Freedom of Information Act,
2002. Even before the Central Right to Information Act was passed,
11 states had already introduced their own right to information
legislations and the Central Act is not intended to repeal the
existing state legislations.
Authorities
covered under the Act: Information under the control of any
constitutional, statutory or notified authority/body/institution
including, among others, NGOs and other bodies owned, controlled
or substantially financed by funds provided by the appropriate
governments are subject to the Act. However information relating
to any private body is excluded from the purview of the Act. The
Act grants every Indian citizen the right to access information
available in any form, be it tangible or in electronic form. To
obtain any information, the citizens are required to make a written
application with the prescribed fee to the designated officer,
specifying the particulars of the information sought. However
persons below the poverty line as determined by appropriate Government
are exempted from paying the prescribed fee to obtain the information.
An applicant is not required to furnish any reason for requiring
the information nor to provide his/her personal information, except
for such particulars as his/her contact details.
Streamlining
Access to Information: Under S. 8 of the Act, access to certain
information is prohibited, e.g. information which (i) prejudicially
affects the sovereignty of the nation, or (ii) is prohibited from
being published by any court, (iii) is a disclosure which might
endanger the life or physical safety of a person, etc. However,
partial disclosure of that part of the exempted information, which
can reasonably be severed from the exempt information, is permissible
to be disclosed under the Act. Access to third party information
(which includes information relating to a person other than the
citizen making a request for information and a public authority)
can be obtained, if such third party has not requested that such
information be kept confidential.. If the third party has requested
that the information sought to be obtained is to be treated as
confidential, then prior approval has to be taken from such third
party to disclose the same.
Organizations
created and governed by the Act: To further the objectives
of the Act, the Act contemplates the constitution of a Central
Information Commission and State Information Commission. The public
authorities are obliged to maintain all their records duly catalogued
and indexed in a form which facilitates the availability of information
and also ensure that all records are computerized and connected
through a network all over the country. However, the provisions
of this Act are not applicable to intelligence and security organizations
such as Border Security Force, Central Reserve Police Force etc,
specified in Second Schedule of the Act.
Ventilation
of Grievance and Appeal: Public Information Officers ("PIOs")
are appointed to receive the applications for information or appeals
and are classified as Central Public Information Officers and
State Public Information Officers. Any other officer, whose assistance
has been sought by the PIO, is expected to render all assistance
and is treated as a PIO. PIOs are obligated to reply to any request
made for access to any information within 30 days of the receipt
of request, failing which the request is deemed to have been refused.
If the information sought concerns the life and liberty of a person,
then the same is required to be provided within 48 hours of the
request. The PIOs are required to provide the reason for rejecting
any request and identify the appellate authority to be approached
by the aggrieved party. First and second appeals are allowed from
the order of the PIO.
Penal
provisions: One of the major reasons for the success of the
Maharashtra Right to Information Act is that there is a provision
for penalizing the PIOs in case he/she does not give the information
within the mandated period. The Central Act, which has drawn a
lot of inspiration from the Maharashtra Act, imposes a penalty
of Rs 2,050/- ($ 46) each day till the application is received
or information is furnished, but the total amount of such penalty
is not to exceed Rs. 25,000/- ($ 559). An effective implementation
of this Act would ensure enhanced accountability of public authorities
towards the citizens seeking vital information as the Act provides
for a time bound and defined process for citizens to access information
of actions taken by public authorities.
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You
can direct your queries or comments to the authors
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Source:
The Gazette of India dated June 21, 2005
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