School of Law

University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

Dehradun

PROJECT ON

RIGHT TO INFORMATION AND ROLE OF UN

Name- Abdullah

SAP ID- 500055158

ROLL NO- R154216005

Course- B.A.LLB SPZ IN CRIMNAL LAW

SEM-IX

Subject- RIGHT TO INFORMATION

ABSTRACT

“This project explores the conceptual basis for the recognition of a right to information. It
commences by reviewing developments in the recognition of a right to information in
international human rights law. In popular democracy the Government should be responsible and
accountable to individuals. Therefore the Government discloses and provides the information of
documents, files and samples required by the individuals on request. The role of the right to
freedom of expression in furthering the recognition of a right to information is highlighted while
the engagement of other rights in such recognition is also explored. The project considers the
contribution made by the instrumental approach to the recognition of a right to information in
international human rights law. Finally it explores whether there might exist an intrinsic right to
information independent of other rights.”

Keywords: access to information, freedom of information, human rights, freedom of expression

, right to participate in public affairs.
CHAPTERIZATION

1 - INTRODUCTION
2 - ORIGIN OF THE RTI ACT IN INDIA
3 - ENACTMENT OF THE RTI ACT
4 - ORIGIN OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
5 - TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNMENT THROUGH RTI
6 - CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION
“Democracy means meaningful participation by the people in the public affairs. A democratic
government must be sensitive to the public opinion for which information must be sensitive to
the public opinion, for which information must be made available to the people. The Right to
Information implies the participation of people in the process of governance and administration
which becomes inevitable. The Right to Information is the only rightful law in India. ”
“This is most popular, citizen centric and change oriented law in Indian administrative
history. The Right to Information Act influences the people and impact on Indian
Administration in greater transparency in functioning of public authorities; disclosure of
information regarding government rules, regulations and decisions, every public authority is
mandated to maintain all records duly cataloged and indexed in a manner and the form which
facilitates the information right under the act.”
“Information is nothing but knowledge, knowledge makes person strong and powerful. If
the Information should be related to Government and Administration, the person becomes active
in good governance and self defensive and growing nature. The RTI act empowers the people of
India against administrative corruption, irregularities and irresponsive attitude of administrative
machinery.1 ”
“The Right to Information promotes transparency and accountability in the working of
every public authority. In other words through this act, the citizens of India have been
empowered to question, audit, review, examine and assess the government acts and decisions so
as to ensure that these are consistent with the principle of public interest, good governance and
justice. 2”
“In India following a nationwide campaign led grass roots and civil society organization,
the Government of India passed a landmark Right to Information Act 2005. Since then social
activists, civil society organizations and ordinary citizens have effectively used the Act to tackle
corruption and bring greater transparency and accountability in the government. Right to
Information Act replaced the Freedom of Information Act-2002 and repealed the “official secrets
act 1923 and many other laws of British raj and rules establishments by union Legislature3.”

1 SHARMA, NIDHI (6 October 2016). "1.75 crore RTI applications filed since 2005: Study"
2 "Explainer: The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019". PRSIndia. 19 July 2019.
3 . "J&K people to face immense difficulties in obtaining benefits of Central RTI Act"Jammu Kashmir Latest News | Tourism
|
 “The Right to Information Act provides a provision to appoint a Public Information
Officer (PIO) and Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) in every public authority, private
aided and unaided private educational institutions. PIO and APIO is answerable to the public
request related to information within time limit of 30 days. In case the PIO and APIO fail to
provide the information to applicant, respective PIO is held responsible to pay penalty of Rs. 250
per day to up to rupees Twenty five Thousand”

ORIGIN OF THE RTI ACT IN INDIA

“The first and far most well-known right to information movement in India was the
MazdoorKisan Shakti Sanghatan (MKSS), an organization for the empowerment of workers and
landless workers and rural poor, which began its right to information work in Rajasthan during
the early 1990s. The MKSS started grass route movement, demanding access to government
information on behalf of wage workers and small farmers who were often deprived of their
rightful wages or their just benefits under the government schemes.”
“Their innovative concept of jansunvai or public hearing MKSS started demanding information
from local authorities regarding the wages, muster rolls, materials used for the construction of
roads during famine relief work. From the modest beginning in the villages of Rajasthan the
success of MKSS has been a source of inspiration for activists in India demanding the
information from the bureaucracy and the government.”
“The struggle of MKSS activists led to a nationwide demand for law to guarantee the RTI to
every citizen, with wide spread support from social activists, professionals, lawyers and media
who are committed to transparent and accountable governance and people‘s empowerment. The
MKSS movement in Rajasthan was a turning point in the RTI movement and showed that even
illiterate, socially mute and exploited labourers could assert and get their other rights conceded
by the invoking the RTI.4”
“The social movements in Rajasthan and other states led to the formation of the National
Campaign for People‘s Right to Information in 1996. Various State RTI laws were passed during
this period, including TamilNadu, Delhi, Maharashtra Karnataka, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and
Goa.Finally, the national Freedom of 161 Information Act was pass in 2002. However, this Act”

4 Mishra, Neelabh (2003). "People's Right to Information Movement: Lessons from Rajasthan"
“was not notified and the newly elected government (after General Election in 2004), got the
Right to Information Act passed in Parliament in 2005.”

ENACTMENT OF THE RTI ACT

“Enactment of Right to Information India always took pride in being the largest democracy, but
with the passing of the Right to Information Act 2005, it has also become an accountable,
interactive and participatory democracy.”
“This Act is applicable to the whole nation including the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government headed by Dr. M Manamohan Singh got
the approval by the Parliament after speedy and marathon discussion. The earlier freedom of
information act 2002, has got the assent of the President of India, but did not notify and finally
replaced with the RTI act, it came in to force on October 12, 2005 and on the same day
Mr.Shahid Raza Burney filed the very first RTI application in Pune Police station.5”
“The RTI act successfully completed ten years in 2015. Popularity of this act and users of
this law is rapidly increasing year by year. Concept of Right to Information started taking shape
in 1970’s by liberal interpretation by the judiciary in various Fundamental Rights especially the
right to freedom of speech and expression. In the case of Bennete Coleman and co versus Union
of India in 1973, the majority opinion of the Supreme Court then put it Freedom of speech and
expression includes within it compass the right of all citizens to read and be informed.6”
“ In 1975 during National Emergency, Supreme Court of India dictate in a case
judgement, Information gathering is a right to every person. The 1981 court judgement in
Manubhai Shah vs Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) reaffirmed the point. Basic
purpose of freedom of speech and expression is that all members should be able to form their
beliefs and communicate them freely to others. In sum the fundamental principle involved here is
the people's right to know. There have been numerous cases favouring disclosure of Government
information and transparency.”

5 "Prabhash Joshi and the RTI Movement” - Mainstream Weekly

6 "Rajya Sabha passes RTI Amendment Bill, 2019". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Ministry
of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.
 “ As a result of a lack of clear legislation on this, people had to knock at the doors of
courts every time they wanted to enforce this right. Courts have almost and always responded
positively. But this course at best restricted enforcement to the aware and the literate for their
own limits concerns. The common citizen had neither the means nor the time and inclination to
get into convoluted legal process and even PIL was a tool which could reach only few elite
people.”
“The movement for the RTI received a fresh impetus from the courageous and powerful
gross roots struggle of the rural poor to combat rampant corruption in famine relief works. This
struggle was led by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS). The reverberation of this struggle
led a nationwide demand for a law to guarantee the RTI to every citizen. For the first time fifth
central pay commission recommended to establish a law to public information, later on many
social organisations started movement to right to information.”
“Action group for RTI, Soochnaka Addhikar Abhiyan, Natinal campaign for people right
to information, Nyayabhoomi and many other people group/ Non Governmental
Organisation(NGO) and many activist like Anna Hajare, Aravind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia,
Rakesh, BB Sharan and many other RTI activist seriously protested for the rightful law to the
people. Again Supreme Court of India stated that in Raj Narayan vs Uttar Pradesh case, The RTI
is a fundamental right following from article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.”
“Government of India establishes a national level act become law under the freedom of
information act in 2002. This act was severely criticised for permitting too many exemptions, not
only under the standard grounds of national security and sovereignty but also for requests that
would involve disproportionate diversion of the resources of a public authority there was no
upper limit on the charges that could be levied and no penalties. Some states like Tamil Nadu
and Goa in 1997, Karnataka and Rajasthan in 2000, Delhi in 2001, Madya Pradesh in 2003,
Jammu and Kashmir in 2004 and Haryana in 2005 have successfully enacted the RTI act.7”

ORIGIN OF RTI ACT IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

Until the Council of Europe adopted the Convention on Access to Official Documents in 2009,
international human rights instruments did not afford explicit protection to the right to

7 Changes in RTI Act's privacy clause will allow corrupt babus to escape public scrutiny: Information
Commissioner
“information.While the recognition of a right to information in international human rights law
was also slow to evolve, international human rights bodies such as the UN Human Rights
Committee, the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
and the European Committee on Social Rights have today accepted the existence of a right to
information in certain circumstances.8”
“This has invariably occurred in the context of the securing of other rights, including both civil
and political and economic and social rights. Each of these foundations for the right to
information will be considered below with a view to building an overview of the current status of
the right to information in international human rights law.”
Information Rights have a long history of around 246 years, if the international front is taken
account of World's first Freedom of Information Act was issued in Stockholm on December 2,
1766.”
“This law in Sweden established press freedom and those at stake included the government,
courts, and parliament. Sweden's constitution thus recognised that press freedom is contingent
upon access to information and politician who played a crucial role in creating this new law, and
gave the world an insight into the benefits of a transparent democracy.”
“A part of the French Constitution, Declaration of Human and Civic Rights, has Article
14 stating that: All citizens have the right to ascertain, by themselves, or through their
representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it freely, to watch over its use, and to
determine its proportion, basis, collection and duration. Although this cannot be taken to be an
assertion of a right to access information from those responsible to the public, there is a hint of a
right to know of a French citizen as to where the taxes that he pays are being spent.9”

“The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution in 1946, which in regard to Freedom
to Information stated, Freedom of Information is a fundamental right and is the touchstone of all
the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated. Freedom of Information implies the
right to gather, transmit and publish news anywhere and everywhere without fetters. As such it is
an essential factor in any serious effort to promote the peace and progress of the worldAs it may”
be concluded, this did not lay enough emphasis on the public's right to have such information,
and so to demand it from the concerned authorities.”
8 Ibid. at 184
9 Supra n 2.
“The history of human rights has known The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as
a milestone. Representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the
world drafted it, and thus it carried the spirit of oneness in all its practical differences.10”
“Proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948
(Resolution 217 A), it was accepted as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and
all nations. For the first time, certain fundamental human rights which were to be universally
protected were set out. UDHR expressly mentioned in its Article 19(2),Everyone shall have the
Right to Freedom of expression which shall include freedom to: seek, receive and impart
information; regardless of frontiers orally, in writing, or in print.11”

TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN GOVERNMENT THROUGH RTI

“Democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are

vital for its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold governments and their
representatives accountable to the governed. The greater the access to the information the greater
would be the responsiveness of government to the needs of the people.Without information
people cannot exercise their rights and duties.”
“ RTI is major step towards more accountable and transparent government. It will
certainly lead to end the culture of governmental secrecy and fulfil its potential as a truly great
democracy. The Act provides for setting out the practical regime of right to information under
the control of public authority in order to promote transparency and accountability in the
working of every public authority. ”
“The promulgation of this Act set the stage for the transparency in the functioning of the
government and its various agencies. Under this Act access to information from public agency
has become a statutory right of every citizen. Ordinary citizens do not have much information”
about how decisions are made and hoe public resources utilizes. Right to Information Act is a
vehicle for greater transparency about the manner of functioning of public agencies.”

10 Beatson and Cripps (eds), Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Information: Essays in Honour of
Sir DavidWilliams (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000)
11 Weeramantry, ‘Access to Information: A New Human Right. The Right to Information’ (1994)
 “Prior to this Act, the accountability of public authority was practicably minimal. By this
Act the citizens can now question, audit, review, examine, access government records, acts,
decisions to ensure that these are consistent with the principles of public interest, good
governance and justice. This act promotes transparency and accountability in administration. The
act provides for framework for promotion of citizen-government partnership in carrying out the
programmes for the welfare of the people. When the government is transparent, there is less
chance for corruption and more room for accountability”

CONCLUSION

Two nation-wide assessments of the impact of implementation of the RTI Act were done in
2008-09 by Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India with the help of an
international accounting company; both the reports coming up in 2009. The following
conclusions were drawn-
i. Awareness about the RTI Act was still very low, especially among rural population and among
women.

ii. Public Information Officers who are supposed to receive their applications and provide them
with information often harassed applicants, especially in the rural areas. In many cases the
applicants had to visit the office more than once which mostly used to be a complete waste of
time, in order to get their applications merely accepted. Instances of applicants being
discouraged from filing RTI applications, threatened, and even physically attacked were pretty
common.

iii. Government functionaries needed training as to how to respond to RTI applications, and on
the need to significantly improve record management.

iv. One of the weak areas was the functioning of the information commissions. The back-log was
huge, and growing. Appellants had to wait for months in order to get their matter heard and
decided upon. Moreover, despite the fact that the RTI Act mandated that a penalty every time
information is not provided within 30 days (without reasonable cause), very few penalties were
actually being imposed. Some commissions imposed no penalties at all.

v. In between October 2005 to March 2008, there were an estimated two million RTI
applications filed across the country, of which an estimated 400,000 RTI applications were filed
from the rural areas, belying the impression that only the educated urban people used the RTI
Act. Nearly 50% of the rural and 40% of the urban applicants were not even graduates, and the
representation among applicants of the disadvantaged groups was in proportion to their
population in India.