Author- Harshit Raj, law student, Lovely Professional University, Chandigarh
Introduction
Right to information means that the citizens of the country have the right to get information from the governing authorities and the authorities that is related to the government in some way or the other. Now if we look at the India before the RTI act was passed the right to information mainly was mainly with the members of parliament or the people working for the government at the higher position so, for example, government at a higher positions, if there’s a member of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, they had the right to ask questions to the government so, they were among those few privileged people who could ask for information from the government. But with the beginning of the 21st century it was realized that if India dreams to become a model democratic country, it is important to ensure transparency and ensure that the citizens get all the information that they require from the government without any hesitation or discrimination.
First Initiative
The first such initiative came up in the year 2002 with a legislation that was called the Freedom of Information Act. The Freedom of Information Act was introduced in the year 2002 specifically to ensure that the people of the country can get more information from the government from the governing authorities. There are certain differences between the RTI Act that we have right now and the Freedom of Information Act. Let’s take an example, we have asked for information from the Ministry of Railways, and we want to know about “what are the new expenses the Ministry of Railways incurring” or “how much profit or loss has the railways been making” as per the RTI act that we have right to get a response within 30 days and we don’t get any answer of our appeal then our second appeal can also go to the Central Information Commission. In the RTI Act there is a provision to file appeals to independent statutory bodies such as the Central Information Commission. However, in the Freedom of Information Act of 2002 there was no provision to file an appeal to an independent authority as we could only file the appeal within that particular body within that particular ministry and that is why it was realized that we need to have a better law or a more stringent law to give more information to the people and so, in the year 2005 the landmark law known as the Right to Information Act was introduced.
Definition of Information
When we say “Right to information” what kind of information can you expect or what kind of information can you ask from the government? The law says that the word ‘Information’ actually includes all those matters that you can ask for records from the department of the government.
We can also ask for the circular opinions. All those opinions, the details of the contracts such as, which company has been given the contract to make the new parliament building? or which company has been given the contract to make new airport at Noida? are the kinds of information that can be asked under the RTI Act.
Main features of the RTI Act
The first and biggest feature of this act is that all the citizens of the country have the right to get information. Before the RTI Act was passed the members of parliament, the members of the legislative assembly, legislative councils, or the people at higher positions in the government certainly had the power and the right to get information but, the common citizens of the country like us, didn’t had this privilege. But, now with this legislation, the government knows that the information is transparent to the people and the government will also be expected to work in a legitimate and accountable manner.
Suo moto Disclosure under Section 4 of the RTI Act
If we want to know who exactly are the members of the Union Public Service Commission or who are the members of the Lokpal, then we don’t have to file an RTI, we just have to go and visit the UPSC website to know who are the members, what their qualifications are, what their background is, etc. This is an example of suo moto disclosure, so ideally all the government departments should disclose as much information as possible suo moto if the person do not find specific information on the website or the department then the citizen of India can go ahead and file the RTI. But the purpose should not be to disturb the officials for every small information rather searching for information already available suo moto should be considered first. If we donot find the same then, we should go ahead and file an RTI, Also because, for filing an RTI we have to pay a certain amount and wait for some period of time.
Conclusion
An important component of the law, the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005, has played a significant role in fostering accountability and openness in government and reducing corruption. Although the Act has been successful in giving citizens a way to get information from public agencies, its implementation nevertheless faces difficulties. To guarantee that, the citizens may successfully use this law to hold public authorities responsible, there is a need for increased knowledge and capacity building. To offer information in a timely and effective manner, public authorities must also be sufficiently resourced and trained. Last but not least, it’s important to prevent abuse of the Act while ensuring the citizens to have the right access to it.