Right to Information Act, 2005

somyajeet

Some Facts

*-    This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 12 October 2005. The first application was given to a Pune police station. Information disclosure in India was restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act relaxes.

*-       The Act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir, where J&K Right to Information Act is in force.

*-    It covers 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. It 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".

*- Private bodies are not within the Act's ambit directly.

In a decision of Sarbjit roy vs Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Central Information Commission also reaffirmed that privatized public utility companies fall within the purview of RTI.

As of 2014, private institutions and NGOs receiving over 95% of their infrastructure funds from the government come under the Act.

*-  The Right to information in India is governed by two major bodies viz.
Central Information Commission (CIC) – Chief Information commissioner who heads all the central departments and ministries- with their own public Information officers (PIO)s. CICs are directly under the President of India.
State Public Information Officers or SPIOs – Heading over all the state department and ministries the SPIO office is directly under the State Governor.
State and Central Information Commissions are independent bodies and Central Information Commission has no jurisdiction over the State Information Commission.

-*-

rkrishnay

An RTI application can be filed in one of three ways:

1. Online: Visit rtionline.gov.in and login to file an RTI.
2. Via post: send your application to the concerned department via speed post or registered post.
3. In person: Visit the Public Information Officer of the concerned department and he/she will guide you further.

For instance, if you reside in Bengaluru and have queries about the water supply in your area, you can approach the municipal body in charge of supplying water to your area (in this case, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board), either at their office or through their website.

How do I file an RTI application?
The procedure to file for an RTI is fairly simple.

1. Determine which department your query concerns and who is the Public Information Officer there.

For Central Public Authorities, check out this website. For State Public Information Officers, go here.

2. Write a simple, to-the-point application form detailing your questions clearly.

3. Pay the fee of Rs. 10. The payment can be made via Demand Draft or Indian Postal Order or can even be submitted to the treasury. Proof of payment (such as challans and receipts) must be enclosed with the application. Online options for the payment are also available here.

4. Submit the application either via post, online or in person.

When can I expect a response to my RTI request?
By law, RTIs must be replied to within 30 days. In fact, in life and death cases, RTIs must be responded to within 48 hours.

Arkitekt

A good move by the Government. This allows the citizen to access information as required for protection of their rights. However, certain NGOs and individuals are using this for data mining from the public sector's documents. The data so mined is then used for unnecessary PILs etc which use up the court's time and most often than not are quashed for being frivolous claims by the higher courts. This also needs to be looked into.

themaskeditor

please post more in detail about RTI and it's procedure

somyajeet

rkrishnay 23-4-2018 04:30 PM
An RTI application can be filed in one of three ways:

1. Online: Visit rtionline.gov.in and login t ...

Thank you.