ADVENTURES OF AN RTI EXPLORER

We found this interesting article on the Right to Information Act by Harshad Oak.



CLICK HERE to view the complete article.

Long Term Benefits of RTI

Information laws can have a positive impact on at least three different spheres of society: Politics, Economics, and Public Administration.

In the political sphere:

• They contribute to the ability of citizens to become aware of and involved in the activities of government.
• This enables them to transform themselves from passive citizens who occasionally go to the polls into active citizens who call the government to account and participate in the design of public policies.
• Overall, this raises the level of political debate and leads to a more productive process of policy making.

In the economic sphere:

• Transparency increases efficiency by making the investment climate more reliable.
• Allowing capital to better calculate where and when it can best be invested.
• The health of the market in the long term depends on a steady and reliable flow of trustworthy information.

In the sphere of public administration:

• Transparency improves the decision making of public servants by making them more responsive and accountable to the public.
• Controls corruption by making it more difficult to hide illegal agreements and action.
• It also improves the legitimacy and trust in government in the eyes of the people, allowing for the more effective implementation of public policies.

The Definition of Information

We found an interesting and educative article on the definition of information, which we want to share with one and all. Here goes:

Legal definition of “Information” in the context of the Right to Information Act, 2005 is incorporated in section 2(f) of the said act, which reads as under:

S.2…(f) “Information” means any 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 electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.

Ordinarily it is presumed that the definition provided by the legislation is precise and complete in respect of the particular Act. Further, the cardinal rule of construction of information is to read the statute literally, that is by giving to the words their ordinary natural and grammatical meaning.

Recently, the Mumbai High Court (Goa Bench) has delivered a judgment (Dr. Celsa Pinto v. Goa State Information Commission ) under the Right to Information Act, 2005, wherein after interpreting the definition of “Information” the High Court has ruled as under -

"The definition cannot include within its fold answers to the question “why” which would be the same thing as asking the reason for a justification for a particular thing. The Public Information Authorities cannot expect to communicate to the citizen the reason why a certain thing was done or not done in the sense of a justification because the citizen makes a requisition about information. Justifications are a matter within the domain of adjudicating authorities and cannot properly be classified as information".

However, interestingly, the Act itself mandates that every public authority shall provide reasons for its administrative and quasi-judicial decisions. Section 4, with elaborate details, speaks about the obligations of public authorities. Section 4(1)(d) reads as under :

S.4 Obligations of public authorities :
(1) Every Public Authority shall -

(d) Provide reasons for its administrative or quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons.

Therefore, from the express intention of the legislation as provided in the section 4(1)(d), every public authority is bound to provide reasons or justification for its decisions. Therefore, it appears that while passing the above said judgment section 4(1)(d) has been completely overlooked by the High Court.

If the definition of ”Information“ is taken as interpreted by the High Court in the above said judgment, then it would restrict the purpose of the Act to a very narrow scope. If public authorities and officers cannot be asked about the reasons for their decisions then no public authorities or their officers can be made accountable for their duties and functions toward the public. Here it is also helpful and necessary to read the preamble of the Act, to understand the intention of the legislation behind enacting the Act.

"An Act 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, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto".

Whereas the Constitution of India has established democratic Republic; And whereas democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to the governed; And whereas revelation of information in actual practice is likely to conflict with other public interests including efficient operations of the Governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information;

And whereas it is necessary to harmonies these conflicting interests while preserving the paramountcy of the democratic ideal; Now, therefore, it is expedient to provide for furnishing certain information to citizens who desire to have it. Be it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows:—

Ordinarily, if the language of the Act is clear, the preamble is to be disregarded, however when the object or meaning of an enactment is not clear, the preamble is to be looked into to explain it. Therefore, if the definition of “Information” is taken as limited as provided in the section 2(f) that would frustrate the entire object of the Act.

Therefore, in our view, reading section 4(1)(d) with the preamble, it can be safely concluded that legislation positively intends that “Information” includes reasons of Public Authority for its decisions and as such the above said judgment of the High Court incorrectly interprets the Act, and requires reconsideration."

Information to the Citizens

Right to Information Act 2005 (Click on the link for RTI PDF) mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information. It is an initiative taken by Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to provide RTI Portal Gateway to the citizens for quick search of information on the details of first Appellate Authorities, PIOs etc. amongst others, besides access to RTI related information / disclosures published on the web by various Public Authorities under the government of India as well as the State Governments.

The realization that right to information is a basic right dates back to 1948, when the universal declaration of human rights was passed. Article 19 of the UDHR declared that “everyone has right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any area and regardless of frontiers.”

In India too, even before the passage of the RTI Act, the right to information has been seen as an essential part of the Right to freedom and expression. The supreme Court in a case involving people union of Civil Liverties and the Union of India had said, “ the right of the citizens to obtain information on matters relating to public acts flows from the fundamental right enshrined in Article 19(1)(a).

At the political level, however, the importance of right to information was recognized much later. A need to have separate law for the right to information was recognized in the conference of chief ministers on “effective and responsive government” held on 24^th of May 1997. As a consequence, the Government of India appointed a working group to examine feasibility and need for right to information act, which ended in the passage of freedom of information Act, 2002 on 6^th of January, 2003. However, due to various reasons, this Act could not be brought into existence by notifying its date of enforcement. Later on, it was felt that the freedom of information Act could be made more powerful by incorporating certain changes. As a result, right to information Act, 2005, was enacted on repealing freedom of information Act, 2002.

Welcome to the world of RTI

For all our readers, we salute your endeavor to BECOME AWARE of what RTI has in store for you.

In this blog, we talk about the RTI (Right to Information) act. This act has given the people, the power to CHANGE the country. The RTI act has made the inner workings of the Government transparent! If YOU, the average citizen learns to use this act, YOU can change the country.

Here, we will try to tell you everything that you need to know about the RTI Act, how you can use it, how it affects you etc!

Even if you know nothing about “politics” or “law”, DO NOT WORRY!! This blog is written in a very simple manner keeping the common man in mind.

If you think that the RTI Act does not affect you, "YOU ARE WRONG!" You will soon BECOME AWARE as to why you are wrong in thinking this way. If you are a citizen of INDIA, the RTI Act gives you a lot of power that YOU CAN and MUST use.

For Example: The next time you ask for a “phone line” or a “water connection”, if you use the RTI Act, you can get your work done quickly. You will not have to make 15 trips to the Govt. offices and bribe and beg the officials to get your work done. RTI has changed all that. Through this blog, we will show you how to use the power of information to get your work done smoothly without any hassles!

Are the roads outside your home terrible or is there a problem of poor hygiene in your area? RTI will help you solve the problem. You do not know how you failed in a paper for which you burnt the midnight oil. RTI is your guiding light. You do not know where your hard earned money in the form of taxes is going. RTI is the one stop solution to the queries in your head.

If you are young and cannot appreciate the above points, then believe us that sooner or later you you may face certain hassles in getting your work done or in gaining useful information. When you do, you will appreciate the power of RTI.

Basically, if you are an Indian, YOU MUST read this! Not only that, you can tell as many people as you can to read this and know of their rights. Do this for your country and her people! Now, in the next post, we shall try to understand what the RTI Act is all about.

ALL THE BEST TO YOU IN YOUR QUEST TO KNOW....