RIGHT TO INFORMATION

NAME : P.SANTHOSH

REG.NO : HA17106

COURSE : BA LLB(HONS) III rd

yr

SECTION : C

SUBJECT : M HUMAN RIGHTS

STUDENT’S SIGNATURE FACULTY’S SIGNATURE

RIGHT TO INFORMATION
Introduction
The right to information is a basic right that underpins good governance, democracy,
poverty eradication and the practical realization of human rights. Good governance is not
achieved simply by having efficient governance or even a democratically elected government.
The norms of freedom of information and the assurance of widespread citizen participation in
public affairs and an active civil society are essential for the full realization of democracy – a
system of government responsive to the needs of its citizens and to develop a culture of human
rights and accountability. The recognition of right to information is crucial to achieving these
ends hence the need for guaranteed and legislated right to information.

World over legislation on access to information are known as “Freedom of Information

laws”. In India advocates for the issue insist on using the ‘Rights’ language and calling the
legislation the ‘Right to Information Law’. This distinction that should not be ignored it with
semantics. However, there is a very important distinction that should not be ignored. It must be
kept in mind that ‘Rights’ in general imply corresponding duties. In the context of the right to
information casts a duty on the government to ensure that information sought is provided. On the
other hand, ‘freedom’ does not convey a strong and clear sense of duty on the government to
provide information to the public, as the public, in this case, does not hold ‘right’ to information.

Word to enhance freedom of information, thereby supporting transparent and accountable

institutions, is also important to the rule of law. This work is supported by United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Freedom of information is an integral part of the
fundamental right of freedom of expression, as recognized by resolution 59 of the UN General
Assembly adopted in 1946, as well as by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948), which states that the fundamental right if freedom of expression encompasses the
freedom to “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers”.

Right2Info.org

Right2INFO.org brings together information on the constitutional and legal framework

for the right of access to information as well case law from more than 80 countries, organized
and analyzed by topic. With a focus on good law and practice, the website provides comparative
overviews of, as well as country summaries illustrating, the current state of the right to
information held by governments and bodies that perform public functions or operate with public
funds. Experts from dozens of countries have contributed material and have indicated their
willingness to correct, update and comment on the material posted. The Justice Initiative has
organized and intends to maintain this website, and, together with Access Info Europe, will
continue to collect, analyze and upload information.

The Right to Information – Good Law and Practice

Right2INFO.orgprovides relevant materials concerning the current state of the public's

right to information (RTI) held by public bodies (including in all branches and at all levels of
government, and bodies that are independent of the executive) and entities that perform public
functions or operate with public funds. With a focus on good law and practice, the website brings
together internationalanddomesticlaw, caseexamples and related resources from international and
regional bodies as well as more than one hundred countries. This is a collaborative effortand we
value the contributions of our readers.

Right to Information in International Human Rights 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 right to
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 United Nations Human Rights
Committee, European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and
European Committee on Social Rights have today accepted the existence of a right to
information in certain circumstances. 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.

International agreements that grant a Right to Information

International agreements are the most explicit statements of a right to information. As

rule of law enacted by the multiple governments, they carry the greatest weight in establishing a
global consensus. Since the first was made in 1948, now have more than 30 such agreements
(Right2Info.org,2012c).Two examples of agreements that incorporate a right to information as
part of other rights are the following:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom
to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers (Universal declaration of human rights,1948
art.19) and

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1996), which also
creates a right to information:

1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.

2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include
freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of
frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any media
of hid choice.

Right to information in INDIA

Right to information Act, 2005 has been enacted to set out the practical regime of rights
to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities.
The Right to Information Act has been acknowledged as the most progressive legislation ever
passed by the Indian Parliament. Its avowed purpose, namely, to secure citizens access to
information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and
accountability in the working of every public authority, has been enabled the weary citizens to
fight against corruption, inefficiency and the arbitrary use of power by the public officials.

The Right to Information Act consists of 31 sections and two schedules. According to
section 3 of the Act all citizens of India have the right to information. However it is subject to
other provisions of this Act. The “right to information” as per its definition given under section
2(j), means ‘the right to receive information accessible under his Act which is held by or under
the control of any public authority and includes the right to (emphasis added)—

(i) Inspection of work, documents, records;

(ii) Taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;
(iii) Taking certified samples of material;
(iv) Obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or
in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is
stored in a computer or in any other device;

The term “Information” has been defined under Section (f) according to which it means
“any material in art 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
accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.

Obligations of public authorities.-

For the purpose of providing information under the Right to Information Act various
obligations have been imposed on the public authorities to impart information. The expression
“public authority” has been defined under Clause (h) of Section 2 of the Right to Information
Act. “Public authority” means any authority means any7 authority or body or institution of self-
Government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law
made by parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued
or order made by the appropriate Government. The term “public authority” also includes
 (i) Anybody owned, controlled or substantially financed directly or indirectly
by funds provided by the appropriate Government and also
(ii) Non-Government organization substantially financed directly or indirectly
by funds provided by the appropriate Government.

Two modes are designed under the Act to provide the information first, under section 4
public authorities are under an obligation to provide information suomoto, to the public at regular
intervals through various means of communications, including internet. The public authority has
to provide as much information as it can so that the public has minimum resort to the use of this
Act to obtain information1. For this purpose public authorities are required:-

(a) To maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form
which facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all records
that are appropriate to be computerized are, within a reasonable time and subject
to availability of resources, computerized and connected through a network all
over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated 2.
and
(b) To publish within one hundred and twenty and twenty days from the enactment of
this Act-(i) the particulars of its organization, functions and duties; (ii) the powers
and duties of its officers and employees ; (iii) channels of supervision and
accountability; (iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; (v) the
rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control
or used by its employees for discharging its functions; (vi) a statement of the
categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; (vii) the
particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation
by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or
implementation thereof; (viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and
other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the
purpose of its advice, and as to whether to the public or the minutes of such
meetings are accessible for the public; (ix) a directory of its officers and
employees; (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and
employees; (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the
 particulars of all plans proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made;
(xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programs, including the amounts
allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmers; (xiii) particulars of
recipients of concessions, permits or authorizations granted by it; (xiv) details in
respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic
form; (xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining
information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if
maintained for public use; (xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of
the Public Information Officers; (xvii) such other information as may be
prescribed. It is duty of every public authority to update these publications every
Year.

The Information regarding the above matters has to be disseminated widely and in such
form and in manner which is easily accessible to the public3. However, all materials are
to be disseminated taking into consideration the cost effectiveness, local area. The
information should be easily accessible to the extent possible in electronic format with
the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as he case
may be, prescribed4. “Disseminated” means making known or communicated the
information to the public through notice boards, newspapers, public announcements,
media broadcasts, the internet or any other means, including inspection of offices of any
public authority5.

(c) To publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing
the decisions to affected public6;
(d) To provide reasons for its administrative or quasi-judicial decisions to affected
person7.

Problems with Indian Law on RTI

As it emerges from the discussion above, the legislation that have been enacted by the
states as also the central Bill do not contain the Goa and the Tamilnadu law do not contain
provisions on the duty to provide information. The Maharastra and Tamilnadu laws have a long
list of exceptions that keep out a lot of information from public domain. The central FOI Bill is
also very week, and in certain aspects it does not even stand as par with its counterpart in the
States. For example, the FOI Bill does not contain any independent appeals mechanism nor does
it contain any penalties. It further fails to provide for an independent monitoring agency.

Neither the laws enacted by the various states nor the FOI Bill being considered by the
central government are satisfactory, as these laws keep a large area of information away from the
purview of the public. There is no uniformity or consistency amongst the various state laws that
have been enacted. That is why there is a demand that the central government must make a law
which applies uniformity to the whole country and sets out clear procedure for getting
information. It also important for the central FOI Bill to be a strong law setting out the minimum
standards with regards to the components discussed earlier, for example setting out reasonable
time limit for response from administration in cases of urgent request for information.

Right to privacy and Right to Information

The right to privacy and the right to information are both essential human rights in the
Modern information society. For the most part, these two rights complement each other in
holding governments accountable to individuals. But there is a potential conflict between these
rights when there is a demand for access to personal information held by government bodies.
Where the two rights overlap, states need to develop mechanisms for identifying core issues to
limit conflicts and for balancing the rights. The “two forms of protection against the Leviathan
state that have the aim of restoring the balance between the citizen and the state:On first
inspection, it would appear that the right of access to information and the right to protection of
personal privacy are irreconcilable. Laws provide a fundamental right for any person to access
information held by government bodies. At the same time, right to privacy laws grant individuals
a fundamental right to control the collection of, access to, and use of personal information about
them that is held by governments andprivate bodies. However, the reality is more
complex.Privacy and RTIare often described as “twosides of the same coin”—mainly acting
ascomplementary rights that promote individuals’rights to protect themselves and to promote
governmentaccountability.The relationship between privacy andRTI laws is currently the subject
of considerable debate around the globe as countriesare increasingly adopting these types of
legislation.To date,more than 50 countries haveadopted both laws.
 Privacy is increasingly being challengedby new technologiesand practices.The
technologies facilitate the growing collection andsharing of personal information.
Sensitivepersonal data (including biometrics andDNAmakeup) arenow collected and
usedroutinely. Publicrecords arebeing disclosedover the Internet. Inresponse to this set
ofcircumstances, morethan 60 countries haveadopted comprehensive laws that give individuals
some control over thecollection anduse of these data by public and private bodies.At the same
time,the public’sright to information is becoming widely accepted.RTIlaws are now common
around the world,with legislation adopted in almost 90 countries.Access toinformation is being
facilitatedthrough new information and communications technologies,andWeb sites
containingsearchable governmentrecordsare becomingeven more widely available.
InternationalBodiesare developing conventions, andrelevant decisions are being issued by
international courts.Availability,legislation,and judicial decisions have led to many debates about
rulesgoverning access to personal informationthat is held by public bodies.As equal
humanrights,neither privacy nor accesstakes precedence over the other. Thusit is necessary
toconsider how to adopt and implement thetwo rightsand the laws that govern them ina manner
that respects both rights.There isno easy way to do this,and both rights must be considered in a
manner that is equalandbalance.

Conclusion

The realization of Human rights is dependent on a democratic society, where the people
are empowered and knowledge, are able to scrutinize the functioning of their government and are
capable of participating in a meaningful manner in the governance of the community. To this
end, the RTI law is a tool, as it gives entitlement and the mechanism to obtain information from
the government with which citizens can become empowered by acquiring a weapon to hold the
government accountable, participate in governance and exercise their rights.

It must be kept in mind that mere enactment of a law does not mean that government will
start implementing it in an effective manner. Civil society organisations, NGO’s and others have
a responsibility to ensure effective implementation. The same is true for the implementation of
the RTI law as well. They have an important role to play, for example, in using the law for the
benefit of the people, disseminating information, analyzing information, generate debate on
various issues and in carrying the voice of the voiceless to policy makers.
REFERNCE

(1) Section 4 (2) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

(2) Section 4 (1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
(3) Section 4 (3) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
(4) Section 4 (4) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
(5) Explanation to Section 4 of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
(6) Section 4 (c) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
(7) Section 4 (d) of the Right to Information Act,2005.

WEBLIOGRAPHY

(1) http://www.right2info.org/
(2) http://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/thematic-areas/governance/freedom-of-
information/
(3) https://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/india/articles/RTI%20a
s%20a%20Human%20Right%20and%20Developments%20in%20India.pdf

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(1) Human Rights by Dr. U. Chandra, Allahabad Law Publications (1999), Eight Edition.

(2) Right to Information Act, 2005.