Right to information

Right to information

RTI refers to the rights of the citizen to access information held by a public authority. These rights empower individuals to request and receive information from government bodies, enhancing transparency and accountability in public administration. Thomas Jefferson said, "Information is the currency of democracy."

The law passed by Parliament is called the RTI Act (Right to Information Act, 2005). Before this, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government passed the Freedom of Information Act, 2002. Although the law empowered the citizen to seek information, it did not talk about the timeline for seeking the information.

Every day after the RTI Act, 2005, was passed, the success of this right was within 10 years of the commencement of the Act, 1.7 crore RTI applications were filed. It is an implied fundamental right.

Information disclosure in India was earlier restricted by the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and various other special rules, which the new RTI relaxes.

Salient feature of RTI Act

• It provides for the appointment of an information officer in each department to provide information to the public on request.
• It fixes a 30-day deadline for providing information, and the deadline is 48 hours for information that is related to life and personal liberty of a person.
• Information will be freely available for below-poverty-line individuals, and for others, the fee will be reasonable.
• The Act imposes an obligation on a public agency to disclose the information suo moto to reduce the request for information.
• It provides for the establishment of CIC (Central Information Commission) and SIC (State Information Commission). They will be independent, high-level bodies to act as an appellate authority vested with the power of a civil court.
• Other salient features
  • The jurisdiction of the Commission extends over central public authorities and state public authorities, respectively.
  • When it comes to the RTI Act, 2005, the CIC and SIC are the only authorities which may declare a body if they are convinced that the respective authorities of the state and central governments fit the criteria of the RTI Act.
  • The Act authorised the Official Secrets Act, 1929, and the Information Commission can allow access to the information if public interest outweighs harm to protect the person.
  • Any person who is a citizen of India can file an RTI.

International commitments

• As per ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) 1966, everyone shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression, freedom to seek and impart information of all kinds, which India is a party to.
• As per UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) 1948, providing everyone with the right to seek, revise, speak, and information and ideas for all kinds.

Provisions of the RTI Act

Provisions of RTI Act, RS follow:-

• Section 1
  • It extends to whole of India.
• Section 2F
  • Information means any material in any form and information related to a private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force.
• Section 2H
  • Public authority means any authority or body or institution of self-government which is established or constituted by the Constitution of India, any other law, a State Legislature Act, or by the Act of Parliament, by notification issued or order made by the government. It also means any body or any institution controlled or substantially financed by the government, or financed directly or indirectly by the government. Any such body or institution should be called a public authority.
• Section 4
  • Suo moto disclosure of information by each public authority.
• Section 8
  • Exemption of certain information like national security of sovereignty, national economic interest, relation with a foreign state, law enforcement in judicial process, cabinet and other decision-making documents, trade secrets and commercial confidentiality, Individual safety and personal privacy
• Section 8, clause 2
  • Provides for disclosure of information exempted under the Official Secrets Act, 1923, if larger public interest is served.

Importance of RTI Act

• Transparency
• Openness
• Trust building
• Low Corruption
• Promotion of democracy
• Ethical government is established because people are made aware of government activities and duties.
• RTI also promotes judicious use of public resources and prevents the aspiration and assertion of resources by any government or government department.

Challenges of the RTI Act

Supply-side challenge

• File maintenance
  • The records and documents in government are not properly indexed and catalogued. Even digital file maintenance has not been adopted in letter and spirit.
• Staff are not trained properly to reply to RTI.
• Attitude of secrecy
  • Colonial attitude of bureaucracy to withhold the information is acting as a barrier.
• Compliance
  • In case of award or compensation to activities by public authority, as audit to commission compliance can't be secured
• Dilution of supplementary laws like Vishal Bharat Protection Act would have created fear in the minds of the people.
• Section 8 of the RTI Act allows disclosure of information in the larger public interest, but most of the information is not disclosed by keeping it under the National Security Act.
  • Recently, the central government refused to disclose the information related to the Rafale deal under national security and friendly relations, but the Supreme Court directed the disclosure of the information.
• Section 4 provides for proactive disclosure of information, but there is little development in that direction. Thus, the Act becomes demand-driven instead of supply-driven.

Demand-side challenge

• Lack of awareness of the act
  • According to data till 2018, only 2% of people have filed an RTI. The RTI Act was enacted in 2005.
• Psychological barrier
  • Many people felt hesitant to approach the government to seek the information, even if the information is necessary for daily existence.
• Inability to draft the application
  • This may sound difficult for many individual villagers and tribes. Lack of abilities would drive the application in a manner such that the public authority can't deny.
• Lack of protection
  • It has been observed that those who seek information about illegal construction, an alleged scam in a social welfare scheme, and corruption in a panchayat have been brutally murdered.
  • Commonwealth Initiative has observed that around 90 activities have been killed since 2005, and shockingly, 7 activities committed suicide, and more than 350 have faced assault and harassment.
• Misuse of RTI Act
  • Many times, RTI has been filed to harass and pressurise public authority, but some individuals have resorted to using and misusing RTI for their benefit.
• Most of the applications are related to grievance redressal.
  • The information from the Information Commission, often addressed to the public authority to redress the grievances
• Publicity information
  • The information by public authority is either voluminous or it has no public interest. Such information is only requested for publicity purposes.

RTI vs. Political parties

A PIL was filed in the Supreme Court very recently, although the matter is pending regarding compliance with the requirement that a political party must be brought under the ambit of RTI (that is, Section 29A of the RP Act). Then, in that case, six national parties (Congress, BJP, TNC, CPI, etc.) were within the ambit of RPI by the full bench of CIC.

However, the political parties have refused to entertain RTI directed at them. It shows that they are under the RTI, but they do not disclose the information. Several activists have approached the Supreme Court on the grounds of non-compliance with the CIC order, and the matter is still pending sub judice.

Why Should political parties covered under the RTI Act?

• Need for ensuring transparency in funding
• Sprouting and deepening of chronic capitalism in political discourse
• Black money
  • According to ADR, 34% of the donations have been received with no address or any other details of the donor.
• Illicit foreign contribution
  • National parties have been accepting foreign contribution despite the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976.
• Political parties are vital organs of the state.
  • According to CIC, the critical role played by these political parties points towards their public character.
• Political parties are public authorities.
  • The CIC held that political parties enjoy various benefits directly or indirectly, like:
    • land for offices of political parties on concessional rate
    • allotment of free time on Doordarshan/All India Radio
    • supply of electoral roll copies free of cost during election
• Large public interest
  • The disclosure of information in the public interest
• The 170^th Report of the Law Commission of India on Reforms of the Electoral Laws recommended introducing internal democracy, financial transparency, and accountability in the working of the political parties.

Why should political parties not be covered under the RTI Act?

• Political parties argue that it obstructs party functioning.
  • A political party can't disclose the internal functioning and financial information under the Act, as it will hamper their functioning.
• RTI can be a tool of misuse.
  • RTI can become a weak spot, and a rival with malicious intent can take advantage of the RTI Act, as a result defeating the very noble cause.
• They are not public authorities.
  • Political parties are not established or constituted under the Constitution or by any other law made by Parliament. Even the registration of political parties under the RP Act is not the same as the establishment of a government body.
• Transparency provision for political party already exists.
• The information related to the financial aspect of a political party has to be disclosed under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• According to DOPT, when RTI was brought, it was never utilised to bring political parties under the ambit of RTI.
• Criminal antecedents and financial details of the candidates are already there and disclosed in the election affidavit and are then on websites like myNeta, by ADR, etc.