The
Right to Information (RTI) Act is a law enacted by the Parliament of India to
provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for
citizens. It was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force
on 13 October 2005. The RTI Act mandates timely response to citizen requests
for government information. It applies to all States and Union Territories of
India, except the State of Jammu and Kashmir, which is covered under a
State-level law.
The
Act relaxes the Official Secrets Act of 1889 which was amended in 1923 and
various other special laws that restricted information disclosure in India. In
other words, the Act explicitly overrides the Official Secrets Act and other
laws in force as on 15 June 2005 to the extent of any inconsistency.
Under
the provisions of the Act, any citizen (excluding the citizens within J&K)
may request information from a 'public authority' (a body of Government or
'instrumentality of State') which is required to reply expeditiously or within
thirty days. The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their
records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of
information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for
information formally.
The
RTI Act specifies that citizens have a right to: request any information (as
defined); take copies of documents; inspect documents, works and records; take
certified samples of materials of work; and obtain information in the form of
printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other
electronic mode.
Prior
to the Act being passed by the Parliament, the RTI Laws were first successfully
enacted by the state governments of Tamil Nadu (1997), Goa (1997), Rajasthan
(2000), Karnataka (2000), Delhi (2001), Maharashtra (2002), Madhya Pradesh
(2003), Assam (2002) and Jammu and Kashmir (2004). Some of these State level
enactments have been widely used. While the Delhi RTI Act is still in force,
Jammu & Kashmir has its own Right to Information Act of 2009, the successor
to the repealed J&K Right to Information Act, 2004 and its 2008 amendment.
Under
the Act, all authorities covered must appoint their Public Information Officer
(PIO). When any person submits a request to the PIO for information in writing,
it is the PIO's obligation to provide information. Further, if the request
pertains to another public authority (in whole or part) it is the PIO's
responsibility to transfer/forward the concerned portions of the request to a
PIO of the other authority within five days. In addition, every public
authority is required to designate Assistant Public Information Officers
(APIOs) to receive RTI requests and appeals for forwarding to the PIOs of their
public authority.
The
RTI Act specifies that a citizen making the request is not obliged to disclose
any information except his/her name and contact particulars. The Act also
specifies time limits for replying to the request. If the request has been made
to the PIO, the reply is to be given within 30 days of receipt. In the case of
APIO, the reply is to be given within 35 days of receipt. If the request is
transferred by to PIO to another public authority the time allowed to reply is
computed from the day on which it is received by the PIO of the transferee
authority.
In
case of information concerning corruption and Human Rights violations by
scheduled Security agencies, the time limit is 45 days but with the prior
approval of the Central Information Commission. However, if life or liberty of
any person is involved, the PIO is expected to reply within 48 hours.
The
information under RTI has to be paid for except for Below Poverty Level Card
(BPL Card) holders. Hence, the reply of the PIO is necessarily limited to
either denying the request (in whole or part) and/ or providing a computation
of further fees. The time between the reply of the PIO and the time taken to
deposit the further fees for information is excluded from the time allowed. If
information is not provided within the time limit, it is treated as deemed
refusal. Refusal with or without reasons may be ground for appeal or complaint.
Further, information not provided in the times prescribed is to be provided
free of charge.
Source: Internet
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