

o Narayan v/s U ar Pradesh Government’: Supreme Court established the Right

to informa on as a fundamental right under the Ar cle 19 of Indian Cons tu on.

The demand for the r 2005 in india stemmedfrom a desire fpr trandperency and accountabili .in
governsnce.

The sig of the r t I was highlighted when the u d of h r was established in 1948 guaran indiv the lib to
access infor and ideas freely without any limita ons , interna onal covenant on civil and poli cal
rights iccpr 1966 asserts that everyone should enjoy the fshouldreddom to express themselves and
have access to a variety of informa pn and ideas,

The s c on the importance case of state of UP v Raj Narain held that transparency is a crucial part of
demo and ci xens should hav ethe right to access records and infor of govt en es under the ambit
of art 19 of the const. in the 1990s , a movement for jus ce took place in rajasthan led by ac vists
like aruna roy and Nikhil dey through the mazdoor kisan shak sangathan mkss. Mkks launched
ini a ves to establish founda ons and put into prax ce the idea of r ,.

The Act also said that any person may file a wri en request to an officer (PIO) which is appointed by
the authority which is covered by this Act.

It is the obliga on to entertain the request made by ci zens. If the officer is not present then the
applicant has the op on to file a request in front of the state or “central informa on commission”.

In 1976, in the Raj Narain vs the State of U ar Pradesh case, the Supreme Court ruled that Right to
informa on will be treated as a fundamental right under ar cle 19.

All cons tu onal authori es, agencies, owned and controlled, also those organisa ons which are
substan ally financed by the government comes under the purview of the act. The act also
mandates public authori es of union government or state government, to provide mely response to
the ci zens’ request for informa on.

Period for Public Informa on Officer: Expedi ously or within 30 days from the date of receipt by
public authority.

The act also imposes penal es if the authori es delay in responding to the ci zen in the s pulated
me.

All cons tu onal authori es, agencies, owned and controlled, also those organisa ons which are
substan ally financed by the government comes under the purview of the act. The act also
mandates public authori es of union government or state government, to provide mely response to
the ci zens’ request for informa on.

The act also imposes penal es if the authori es delay in responding to the ci zen in the s pulated
me.

All cons tu onal authori es, agencies, owned and controlled, also those organisa ons which are
substan ally financed by the government comes under the purview of the act. The act also
mandates public authori es of union government or state government, to provide mely response to
the ci zens’ request for informa on.

The act also imposes penal es if the authori es delay in responding to the ci zen in the s pulated
me.

What type of informa on can be requested through RTI?

The ci zens can seek any informa on from the government authori es that the government can
disclose to the parliament.

Some informa on that can affect the sovereignty and the integrity of India is exempted from the
purview of RTI.

Informa on rela ng to internal security, rela ons with foreign countries, intellectual property rights
(IPR), cabinet discussions are exempted from RTI.

Challenges==

 Different types of informa on are sought which has no public interest and some mes can be
used to misuse the law and harass the public authori es. For example-

 Asking for desperate and voluminous informa on.

 To a ain publicity by filing RTI

 RTI filed as a vindic ve tool to harass or pressurize the public authority

 Because of illiteracy and unawareness among the majority of the popula on in the country,
the RTI cannot be exercised.

 Though RTI’s aim is not to create a grievance redressal mechanism, the no ces from
Informa on Commissions o en spur the public authori es to redress grievances.

Information: Kinds of Information that can be accessed through RTI

Act,

Any sort of information that the government can disclose in the parliament is allowed
to be questioned by the citizens. In other words, the citizens of India have the right to
any information. They can question the government authorities at any time through
the RTI Act.

However, there are some limitations to the type of information that can be accessed.
Information that can hamper the sovereignty and integrity of our country is exempted
from the scope of the Right to Information Act. Sensitive information related to our
country’s internal security or information related to India’s association with other
countries vital for maintaining healthy relations with each other, Intellectual Property
Rights (IPR), and any cabinet discussions is free from the RTI Act 2005.

Objectives of the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005

The RTI Act was implemented with the following objectives:

 Allow the citizens of the country to question the working government.

 Promote transparency and answerability of the working government.
 Check corruption prevailing in the government to serve the citizens better.
 Make citizens well-informed about the functioning of the government system.

important provisions

 Section 2(h): “Public authorities” refer to all government agencies at both the
local and union levels, including subordinate state and local bodies such as
city councils. This includes public institutions like government schools,
colleges etc. Private associations that accept funding from central or local
governments must also follow certain requirements under the RTI Act

 Section 4(1)(b): The government is responsible for maintaining and disclosing

information in a timely manner

 Section 6: A person who desires to obtain any information shall make a

request to the public information officer

 Section 7: PIOs must provide information(s) within a stipulated time range.

 Section 8(1): Information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the

sovereignty and integrity of India or lead to incitement of an offence, shall not
be disclosed

 Section 19: This section defines a two-tier procedure for appealing an RTI.


 Section 20: Stiff penalties for public servants who fail to provide or
deliberately hinder acces to information.