PUBLIC

AUTHORITIES
UNIT II
 Section 3 of the Act provides that subject to the provisions of the Act, all
citizens shall have the right to information.

 Public Authority is defined in Section 2(h) as follows,

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 Government,
and includes any—
(i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
(ii) non-Government organisation substantially financed, directly or indirectly
by funds provided by the appropriate Government;
 OBLIGATION OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

 Section 4

Obligations :

1. Maintain all its records duly catalogued, indexed in a manner and computerize the records
2. Public authorities are mandated by the Act to publish within one hundred and twenty days from
the enactment of the Act, information regarding its organization, employees, rules, regulations,
remuneration received by its employees, budgetary allocations, proposed expenditures etc.
3. Publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies
4. Reasons for its administrative or quasi-judicial
5. The Act provides for suo motu provision of information to the public through various media.
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER

Section 5

 Appointment of PIO – 100 days – accepts the request forms and provides
information sought by the people.
 Appointment of APIO- 100 days – Receives requests for information and appeals
against decisions of the Public information officers and send them to the
appropriate authorities.
 Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer may seek
the assistance of any other officer as he or she considers it necessary
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Section 6

 Applicant shall make a request in writing or through electronic means in English

or Hindi or in the official language of the area accompanying fee as prescribed to
PIO / APIO
 Request orally to reduce the same in writing.
 Not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other
personal details
 If an application is made to a public authority requesting for an information which is
held by another public authority - transfer the application and inform the
applicant - no case later than five days from the date of receipt of the application.
DISPOSAL OF REQUEST

Section 7

 On the receipt of request – 30 days – payment of fee – accept or reject .

 Life or liberty of a person concerned – 48 hrs .
 Fails to give decision – Deemed to have refused the request .
 Convey further fee details if any .
 Assistance to sensorily disabled to access to the information
 Fee for printed or in any electronic format – no fee for below poverty .
 Consider the representation by third party
 Rejection should be accompanied with reasons, appeal time period and
particulars of appellate authorities.
 Information should be provided in the form in which it is sought.
EXEMPTIONS

Section 8 :

(a) Information that would affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security,
strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation within foreign state or
lead to incitement of an offence;
(b) Information expressly forbidden by any court of law or disclosure of which may
constitute contempt of court;
(c) Information, the disclosure of which would cause breach of privilege of
Parliament or state legislature;
(d) Information including trade secrets or intellectual property, the disclosure of
which would harm the competitive position of third parties;
(e) Information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship;
(f) Information received in confidence from a foreign Government;
(g) Information that would endanger the life or physical safety of any person
or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence to a law
enforcement agency;
(h) Information that would impede the process of investigation;
(i) Information which relates to personal information the disclosure of which
has no relationship to any activity or interest, or which would cause
unwarranted invasion of privacy of the individual;

The Act does not restrict the manner in which an applicant can use
information supplied by a public authority.
GROUNDS FOR REJECTION TO
ACCESS IN CERTAIN CASES
Section 9 and 10
 Reject a request - involve an infringement of copyright subsisting in a person
other than the State.
 Access may be provided to that part of the record which does not contain any
information which is exempt from disclosure under this Act and which can
reasonably be severed from any part that contains exempt information – Notice .
THIRD PARTY INFORMATION

Section 11
 Within five days from the receipt of the request, give a written notice to such third
party of the request
 Invite the third party to make a submission in writing or orally, regarding whether
the information should be disclosed, and such submission of the third party shall
be kept in view while taking a decision about disclosure of information.
 The third party shall within ten days from the date of receipt of such
notice, be given the opportunity to make representation against the
proposed disclosure.
 A Notice should contain a Statement providing the particulars of appeal.
 Except in the case of trade or commercial secrets protected by law,
disclosure may be allowed if the public interest in disclosure outweighs in
importance any possible harm or injury to the interests of such third party.
THANK YOU