RIGHT TO INFORMATION

ACT, 2005
 In order to provide an effective framework
for effectuating the right to information
recognized under Article (19) (1) (a) of the
Constitution of India, Parliament enacted the
Right To Information Act, 2005 ‘to provide
for setting out the practical regime of right
to information for citizens to secure access
to information under the control of public
authorities, in order to promote
transparency and accountability in the
working of every public authority.
OBJECTS OF THE RIGHTS OF
INFORMATION ACT -
i. To provide for setting out the practical practices
regime of right to information for citizen.
ii. To secure access to information under the control
of public authorities, in order to promote
transparency and accountability in the working of
every public authority.
iii. Constitution of a Central Information Commission
and State Information Commissions.
iv. Democracy requires informed citizens and
transparency of information which are vital to its
functioning and to contain corruption and to hold
governments and their instrumentalities
accountable to the governed.
OBJECTS OF THE RIGHTS OF
INFORMATION ACT -
v. Revelation of information in actual practice
is likely to conflict with other public
interests including efficient operations of the
governments, optimum use of fiscal
resources and the preservation of
confidentiality if sensitive information.
vi. It is necessary to harmonize conflicting
interests while preserving the supremacy of
the democratic ideal.
vii. To provide certain information to citizens
who desire to have it.
Section 2(f), Information
 Information means material in any form
including records, documents, memos, e-
mails, opinions, advices, press releases,
circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts,
reports, papers, samples, models, data,
material held in any private body which
can be assessed by a public authority
under any other law for the time being in
force.
Section 2(h) Public Authority
 Public Authority means any 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 Govt. and includes any;
body owned, controlled or substantially
financed; or non-govt. organization
substantially financed directly or indirectly
by funds provided by the appropriate govt.
Section 2(i) Record
 Record includes-
 Any document, manuscript and file;
 Any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile
copy of a document;
 Any reproduction of image or images
embodied in such microfilm;
 Any other material produced by a
computer or any other device;
Section 2(j) – Right to information
 RTI means the right to information accessible
under this Act is held by or under the control of
nay public authority and includes the right to-
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.
Section 3
 All citizens shall have the right to
information.
Section 4 – Right to Information and
Obligations of Public Authorities
S. 4(1) - Every public authority shall—
a) 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 computerised are, within a
reasonable time and subject to availability of
resources, computerised and connected
through a network all over the country on
different systems so that access to such
records is facilitated;
Section 4 -
(b) publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment
of this Act,—
 (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties;
 (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees;
 (iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process,
including 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;
Section 4 -
 (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 meetings of those boards,
councils, committees and other bodies are open to
the public, or the minutes of such meetings are
accessible for public;
 (ix) a directory of its officers and employees;
 (x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its
officers and employees, including the system of
compensation as provided in its regulations;
 (xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency,
indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed
expenditures and reports on disbursements made;
Section 4 -
 (xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes,
including the amounts allocated and the details of
beneficiaries of such programmes;
 (xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits
or authorisations 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;
and thereafter update these publications every year;
Section 4 –

(c)publish all relevant facts while

formulating important policies or
announcing the decisions which affect
public;
(d) provide reasons for its administrative or
quasi-judicial decisions to affected
persons.
Section 4(2) -
 (2) It shall be a constant endeavour of
every public authority to take steps in
accordance with the requirements of
clause (b) of sub-section (1) to provide as
much information suo motu to the public
at regular intervals through various means
of communications, including internet, so
that the public have minimum resort to
the use of this Act to obtain information.
Section 4(3) -
 Every information shall be disseminated
widely and in such form and manner
which is easily accessible to the public.
Section 4(4) -
 All materials shall be disseminated taking
into consideration the cost effectiveness,
local language and the most effective method
of communication in that local area and 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 the case
may be, available free or at such cost of the
medium or the print cost price as may be
prescribed.
Section 4 - Explanation
 “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
authority.
Section 4 - Nutshell
 Every public authority under this Act has
been entrusted with a duty to maintain
proper records.
 As per Section 4(1)(b) – Every Public
authority has to publish within 120 days
of the enactment of this act all the
information sought in the section such as
particulars of its organisation, functions,
duties and powers and duties of its
officers, employees, etc.
Section 6 – request for obtaining
the information
 (1) A person, who desires to obtain any information
under this Act, shall make a request in writing or
through electronic means in English or Hindi or in the
official language of the area in which the application is
being made, accompanying such fee as may be
prescribed, to— (a) the Central Public Information
Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the
case may be, of the concerned public authority;
(b) the Central Assistant Public Information Officer or
State Assistant Public Information Officer, as the case
may be,

specifying the particulars of the information sought by

him or her:
 Provided that where such request cannot
be made in writing, the Central Public
Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer, as the case may be,
shall render all reasonable assistance to
the person making the request orally to
reduce the same in writing.
Section 6(2) -
 (2) An applicant making request for
information shall not be required to give
any reason for requesting the information
or any other personal details except
those that may be necessary for
contacting him.
Section 6(3)
 (3) Where an application is made to a public
authority requesting for an information,— (i)
which is held by another public authority; or
 (ii) the subject matter of which is more closely
connected with the functions of another public
authority,
 the public authority, to which such application is
made, shall transfer the application or such part
of it as may be appropriate to that other public
authority and inform the applicant immediately
about such transfer:
 Provided that the transfer of an application
pursuant to this sub-section shall be made as
soon as practicable but in no case later than five
days from the date of receipt of the application.
Section 7 -
 (1) Subject to the proviso to sub-section (2) of
section 5 or the proviso to subsection (3) of section
6, the Central Public Information Officer or State
Public Information Officer, as the case may be, on
receipt of a request under section 6 shall, as
expeditiously as possible, and in any case within thirty
days of the receipt of the request, either provide the
information on payment of such fee as may be
prescribed or reject the request for any of the
reasons specified in sections 8 and 9:
 Provided that where the information sought for
concerns the life or liberty of a person, the same
shall be provided within forty-eight hours of
the receipt of the request.
Section 7 -
 (2) If the Central Public Information
Officer or State Public Information
Officer, as the case may be, fails to give
decision on the request for information
within the period specified under sub-
section (1), the Central Public Information
Officer or State Public Information
Officer, as the case may be, shall be
deemed to have refused the request.
Section 7 -
 (3) Where a decision is taken to provide the information on
payment of any further fee representing the cost of
providing the information, the Central Public Information
Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may
be, shall send an intimation to the person making the
request, giving— (a) the details of further fees representing
the cost of providing the information as determined by him,
together with the calculations made to arrive at the amount
in accordance with fee prescribed under subsection (1),
requesting him to deposit that fees, and the period
intervening between the dispatch of the said intimation and
payment of fees shall be excluded for the purpose of
calculating the period of thirty days referred to in that sub-
section;
 (b) information concerning his or her right with respect to
review the decision as to the amount of fees charged or the
form of access provided, including the particulars of the
appellate authority, time limit, process and any other forms.
Section 7(4) -
 (4) Where access to the record or a part
thereof is required to be provided under
this Act and the person to whom access
is to be provided is sensorily disabled,
the Central Public Information Officer or
State Public Information Officer, as the
case may be, shall provide assistance to
enable access to the information, including
providing such assistance as may be
appropriate for the inspection.
Section 7(5) -
 (5) Where access to information is to be
provided in the printed or in any electronic
format, the applicant shall, subject to the
provisions of sub-section (6), pay such fee
as may be prescribed:
 Provided that the fee prescribed under sub-
section (1) of section 6 and sub-sections (1)
and (5) of section 7 shall be reasonable
and no such fee shall be charged from
the persons who are of below poverty
line as may be determined by the
appropriate Government.
Section 7(6) -
 (6) Notwithstanding anything contained in
sub-section (5), the person making
request for the information shall be
provided the information free of charge
where a public authority fails to
comply with the time limits
specified in sub-section (1).
Section 7(8) -
 (8) Where a request has been rejected
under sub-section (1), the Central Public
Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer, as the case may be,
shall communicate to the person
making the request,— (i) the reasons
for such rejection; (ii) the period within
which an appeal against such rejection
may be preferred; and (iii) the particulars
of the appellate authority.
Section 7(9) -
 (9) An information shall ordinarily be
provided in the form in which it is sought
unless it would disproportionately divert
the resources of the public authority or
would be detrimental to the safety or
preservation of the record in question.
Section 8 – Right to information
restricted
 Any information, disclosure of which
would prejudcially affect the sovereignty
and integrity of India, relation with foreign
state or lead to incitement of an offence;
or information which has been expressly
forbidden to be published by any court of
law or tribunal or the disclosure of which
may constitute contempt of court; are
exempted from disclosure.
Section 8 – Right to information
restricted
 The Cabinet papers including records of
deliberations of the Council of Ministers,
Secretaries and other officers are
exempted to the extent that the reasons
on which the decisions are based, and the
material on the basis of which the
decisions were taken shall be made public
after the decision has been taken, and that
matter is complete, or over.
Secretary general, Supreme Court
of India v Subhash Chandra Agarwal
 Facts - In 1997 at the Conference of Chief
Justices, all the judges adopted a “Code of
Conduct” which required them to disclose
their assets in confidence to their Chief
Justices. To see whether the judges are
complying with the Code of Conduct or not,
an RTI activist Subash Agarwal filed an RTI
application seeking information from the
Public Information Officer (PIO) of the
Supreme Court in this regard and also for a
copy of the adopted “Code of Conducts”.
Secretary general, Supreme Court
of India v Subhash Chandra Agarwal
 The PIO responded by saying that the information
does not exist in the court registry. On appeal, the
appellate authority directed the PIO to give name of
the officer having the relevant information and to
refer the application to the authority having the
information by way of Section 6(3) of the Act. On
remission the PIO rejected the application asking to
file the application to respective High Courts.
 The applicant then approached the CIC. The CIC
rejected the contentions of the Information Officer
and directed him to provide the information. This led
to a writ petition in the Delhi High Court challenging
the order of the CIC. A single bench judge decided
that the order given by the CIC was correct. An
appeal was filed against the decision given by the
single judge bench.
Secretary general, Supreme Court
of India v Subhash Chandra Agarwal
Issue 1 – whether Information about
declaration of assets by judges is exempted
under section 8(1)(j)?
- Information which is sought for by the
applicant is purely & simply personal
information, the disclosure of which has no
relationship to any public activity and access
to such information would result in
unwarranted intrusion of privacy. Hence,
Such information is exempted under
S.8(1)(j).
Secretary general, Supreme Court
of India v Subhash Chandra Agarwal
 Issue 2 – Whether the Applicant had any
right to information under section 2(j) of
the Act?
- It was held that applicant had right to
information under S.2(j) in respect of the
information regarding making of
declarations by the judges of the SC
pursuant to the 1997 resolution.
Secretary general, Supreme Court
of India v Subhash Chandra Agarwal
 Issue 3 – whether the CJI held the ‘information’ in
his fiduciary capacity?
- Whenever 2 persons stand in such a situation
that confidence is necessarily reposed by one in
the other, there arises a presumption as to
fiduciary relationship which grows naturally out of
that confidence.
- Held, CJI and Judges of SC can’t be fiduciary and
they hold independent office
- S.8(e) doesn’t cover assets declaration made by
judges of SC and held by CJI. The CJI doesn’t hold
such declarations in a fiduciary capacity or
relationship.
Introduction to Ombudsman –
Lokpal & Lokyukta
 The concept of Ombudsman originated from Sweden, in
1809.
 Ombudsman literal meaning is “representative”/
 An Ombudsman is a public official appointed to investigate
citizen’s complaint & grievances against administration,
especially that of public authority.
 In words of Garner, “an officer of parliament, having as his
primary function, the duty of acting as an agent for
parliament, for the purpose of safeguarding the citizen against
abuse or misuse of administrative power by the executive”.
 He is the supervisor of the Administrative Authority.
 An ombudsman is an official, usually appointed by
the government or by parliament but with a significant
degree of independence, who is charged with representing
the interests of the public by investigating and addressing
complaints reported by individuals.
Purpose of establishing the position
of Ombudsman-
 To make the administration run legally.
 To protect citizens from wrongful act of administration
 To establish an impartial body to work to manage the
grievances of the citizens.
 To prevent the abuses of public authorities
 To work as watchdog in the working of the administrative
wing.
 To bring about administrative reforms and developments
 Easily accessible and reachable to the general public.
 To safeguard the interest of the general public
 Establishment of a autonomous body to work independently
of legislature and executive.
 It is a high status Institution with administrative and
professional expertise.
Six major objectives of the ombudsman
institution in words ot Professor Larry Hill-
 To right individual wrongs.
 To make bureaucracy more humane.
 To lessen popular alienation from
government.
 To prevent abuses by acting as a
bureaucratic watchdog.
 To vindicate civil servants when unjustly
accused, and
 To introduce administrative reform.
Introduction to Lokpal & Lokyukta
in India
 In India, the concept of constitutional ombudsman
was first proposed by the then law minister
Ashok Kumar Sen in parliament in the
early 1960s.
 The term Lokpal and Lokayukta were coined by
Dr. L. M. Singhvi.
 "India Against Corruption movement" led by Anna
Hazare put pressure on the United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre and
resulted in the passing of the Lokpal and
Lokayuktas Bill, 2013, in both the Houses of
Parliament.
 It received assent from President on 1 January
2014 and came into force on 16 January 2014.
Section 3 - Establishment of lokpal
 It consist of One Chairperson and a maximum of 8
members.
 Chairperson of the Lokpal should be either the former Chief
Justice of India or the former Judge of Supreme Court or an
eminent person with impeccable integrity and outstanding
ability, having special knowledge and expertise of minimum
25 years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy,
public administration, vigilance, finance including insurance
and banking, law and management.
 Out of the maximum eight members, half will be judicial
members and minimum 50% of the Members will be from
SC/ ST/ OBC/ Minorities and women.
 The judicial member of the Lokpal either a former Judge of
the Supreme Court or a former Chief Justice of a High
Court.
Section 3 - Establishment of lokpal
 The non-judicial member should be an eminent
person with impeccable integrity and outstanding
ability, having special knowledge and expertise of
minimum 25 years in the matters relating to anti-
corruption policy, public administration, vigilance,
finance including insurance and banking, law and
management.
 The term of office for Lokpal Chairman and
Members is 5 years or till the age of 70
years.
 The members are appointed by the
president on the recommendation of a Selection
Committee.
 The selection committee is composed of
the Prime Minister who is the
Chairperson; Speaker of Lok Sabha,
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief
Justice of India or a Judge nominated by
him/her and One eminent jurist.
 For selecting the chairperson and the
members, the selection committee
constitutes a search panel of at least eight
persons.
Jurisdiction in respect of Inquiry –
Section 14
 Jurisdiction of Lokpal includes Prime Minister, Ministers,
members of Parliament, Groups A, B, C and D
officers and officials of Central Government.
 Jurisdiction of the Lokpal included the Prime Minister except
on allegations of corruption relating to international
relations, security, the public order, atomic energy and space.
 The Lokpal does not have jurisdiction over Ministers and
MPs in the matter of anything said in Parliament or a vote
given there.
 Its jurisdiction also includes any person who is or has been in
charge (director/ manager/ secretary) of anybody/ society set
up by central act or any other body financed/ controlled by
central government and any other person involved in act of
abetting, bribe giving or bribe taking.
 The Lokpal Act mandates that all public officials should
furnish the assets and liabilities of themselves as well as their
respective dependents.
Powers of lokpal – Section 25
 It has the power to superintendence over and to
give direction to CBI.
 The Inquiry Wing of the Lokpal has been vested
with the powers of a civil court.
 Lokpal has powers of confiscation of assets,
proceeds, receipts and benefits arisen or
procured by means of corruption in special
circumstances.
 It has powers of confiscation of assets,
proceeds, receipts and benefits arisen or
procured by means of corruption in special
circumstances.
 Lokpal has the power to give directions to
prevent the destruction of records during
the preliminary inquiry.
Section 11 – Inquiry Wing
(1) The Lokpal shall constitute an Inquiry Wing headed by the
Director of Inquiry for the purpose of conducting
preliminary inquiry into any offence alleged to have been
committed by a public servant punishable under the
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988:
Provided that till such time the Inquiry Wing is constituted by
the Lokpal, the Central Government shall make available
such number of officers and other staff from its Ministries
or Departments, as may be required by the Lokpal, for
conducting preliminary inquiries under this Act.
(2) For the purposes of assisting the Lokpal in conducting a
preliminary inquiry under this Act, the officers of the
Inquiry Wing not below the rank of the Under Secretary
to the Government of India, shall have the same powers as
are conferred upon the Inquiry Wing of the Lokpal under
section 27.
Section 12 – Prosecution Wing
Section 12(1) -The Lokpal shall, by notification, constitute a
Prosecution Wing headed by the Director of Prosecution for
the purpose of prosecution of public servants in relation to
any complaint by the Lokpal under this Act: Provided that till
such time the Prosecution Wing is constituted by the Lokpal,
the Central Government shall make available such number of
officers and other staff from its Ministries or Departments,
as may be required by the Lokpal, for conducting prosecution
under this Act.
(2) The Director of Prosecution shall, after having been so
directed by the Lokpal, file a case in accordance with the
findings of investigation report, before the Special Court and
take all necessary steps in respect of the prosecution of
public servants in relation to any offence punishable under
the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
(3) The case under sub-section (2), shall be deemed to be a
report, filed on completion of investigation, referred to in
section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Section 63 – Establishment of
Lokayukta
 63. Every State shall establish a body to
be known as the Lokayukta for the State,
if not so established, constituted or
appointed, by a law made by the State
Legislature, to deal with complaints
relating to corruption against certain
public functionaries, within a period of
one year from the date of
commencement of this Act.