Know the Right to Information Act, 2005

Right to Information Act is a legal provision for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities. It came into existence to promote transparency and accountability particularly in the government machineries.

Each authority covered by the RTI Act must appoint their Public Information Officer (PIO). Any person may submit a written request to the PIO for information.

The Act now extends to the whole of India. The earlier exclusion of Jammu and Kashmir ceased with effect from 31 October 2019: under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, the separate J&K Right to Information Act 2009 was repealed, and the central RTI Act 2005 now applies to the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and of Ladakh as well. It is applicable on all constitutional authorities, including the executive, legislature and judiciary; any institution or body established or constituted by an act of Parliament or a state legislature.

Readers should also note two later changes. The Right to Information (Amendment) Act 2019 empowered the Central Government to prescribe the tenure, salary and service conditions of the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners at the Centre and in the States. Separately, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 amended Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act so that personal information is now broadly exempt from disclosure; this amendment has been the subject of considerable debate and a lawyer should be consulted on its current operation.

t is also defined in the Act that bodies or authorities established or constituted by order or notification of appropriate government including bodies “owned, controlled or substantially financed” by government, or non-Government organizations “substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds” provided by the Government are also covered in the Act. The act specifies time limits for replying to the request.

A few notable points mentioned in the Act are as follow:

• The reply of the particular RTI has to be given within 30 days of receipt.
• However, if life or liberty of any person is involved, the PIO is expected to reply within 48 hours.
• If the request has been made to an APIO, the reply is to be given within 35 days of receipt.
• Information concerning corruption and Human Rights violations by scheduled Security agencies (those listed in the Second Schedule of the Act) is to be provided within 45 days but with the prior approval of the Central Information Commission.
• If the PIO transfers the request to another public authority (better concerned with the information requested), the time allowed to reply is 30 days but computed from the day after it is received by the PIO of the transferee authority.
• Information in highly sensitive cases such as national security, VIP safety or any other grave issue is directed to be handled very judiciously and confidently both by the giver and receiver.