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Right to Information
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 8
2015 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 8 Right to Information 2015 Dec Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2015 Dec examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2015 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2015 Dec examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1Free exchange of ideas is the basic pillar of a democracy. How can the RTI Act, 2005 achieve the above said goal ? Explain.[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: why free exchange of ideas is a pillar of democracy (Article 19(1)(a)); why ideas need information: debate without facts is guesswork; how the RTI Act supplies the raw material of debate: a right for every citizen, cheap and quick (sections 3, 6, 7), proactive publication of policies and their facts (section 4(1)(b), (c)), opinions and file notings as information (section 2(f)), reasons for decisions (section 4(1)(d)); how it widens the circle of speakers: the press (R. Rajagopal), researchers (section 8(3); Public Records Act), voters and civil society (Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms, People's Union for Civil Liberties); how it protects plurality against official monopoly over facts (Cricket Association of Bengal; S.P. Gupta); a worked example; its limits and the conditions for success; a table.
Free exchange of ideas as a pillar
Democracy rests on the idea that the people decide. They decide well only if ideas can be freely put forward, tested and rejected. Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution protects freedom of speech and expression for this reason. A society where only the Government may speak about public affairs is not a democracy, however often it holds elections.
Ideas need information
Ideas about public affairs are built on facts. A citizen may want to argue that a scheme is failing, a contract was unfair or a policy is unjust. To do so, he must know what was done, why and at what cost. Without facts, debate becomes rumour, and the Government, which alone holds the files, wins every argument by default. Free exchange of ideas therefore needs free access to information. The RTI Act supplies that access in four ways.
1. It supplies the raw material of debate
- A right for everyone. Section 3 gives every citizen the right to information. Section 6(2) requires no reason, and section 7 sets short deadlines and low fees. Anyone who wishes to join a public debate can obtain the facts.
- Facts behind policies. Section 4(1)(c) requires public authorities to publish "all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect public". Citizens can argue about a policy while it is still being made, not only after.
- The official mind on record. Section 2(f) includes "opinions" and "advices" in information. File notings, once hidden, show the arguments made inside government. Public debate can engage with the real reasons, not the official press release.
- Reasons for decisions. Section 4(1)(d) requires reasons to be given to those affected. Reasons can be discussed, criticised and answered.
2. It widens the circle of speakers
1. The press. Journalists can now build stories on documents rather than leaks. In R. Rajagopal v. State of Tamil Nadu, (1994) 6 SCC 632, a magazine wished to publish the autobiography of a condemned prisoner, which named officials. The Supreme Court held that publication based on public records is not barred by privacy. Public officials cannot claim privacy for acts in the course of duty. Information obtained under the Act is a public record that the press may publish and debate.
2. Researchers and historians. Section 8(3) opens information about events twenty years old, subject to narrow exceptions. Under the Public Records Act 1993, old records in the archives are opened to research scholars. Historians can challenge official versions of the past.
3. Voters and civil society. In Union of India v. Association for Democratic Reforms, (2002) 5 SCC 294, the question was whether voters were entitled to know about candidates. The Supreme Court held that the voter's right to know the antecedents and assets of candidates is part of Article 19(1)(a). In People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India, AIR 2003 SC 2363, Parliament had amended the election law to limit those disclosures. The Court struck the provision down, holding that the voter's right to information "cannot be frozen and stagnated". Elections, the great public debate of a democracy, are now conducted with more facts.
3. It protects plurality against an official monopoly over facts
In Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting v. Cricket Association of Bengal, (1995) 2 SCC 161, the dispute was over who could telecast cricket matches. The Supreme Court held that "the right to impart and receive information is a species of the right of freedom of speech and expression". It treated the airwaves as public property, to be used for the public good. The Court's concern was that no single authority should control what the public sees and hears. The RTI Act applies the same idea to government information. No official body should have a monopoly over the facts of public life.
In S.P. Gupta v. Union of India, AIR 1982 SC 149, the Government claimed immunity for correspondence about a judge's continuation. The Supreme Court ordered disclosure. Bhagwati J called open government "the direct emanation from the right to know", implicit in Article 19(1)(a). Disclosure must be the rule, and secrecy an exception justified only by the strictest public interest.
4. It improves the quality of debate
When both sides can see the same documents, argument moves from suspicion to evidence. Disagreements remain, as they should in a democracy, but they become disagreements about values and choices rather than about hidden facts. Minorities and critics, who have no access to the corridors of power, gain the same documentary footing as those who do. Officials, knowing their notings may be read, write more carefully. Citizens, knowing they can check, are less easily misled. Proactive disclosure under section 4 means that much of this information is available to all, not only to those who apply.
A worked example
A city corporation announces a flyover that will cut down a large number of old trees. Before the RTI Act, the public debate would rest on the corporation's press note and on residents' guesses.
- A residents' group applies for the project report, the traffic study, the tree survey and the file notings of the approving committee.
- The notings show that an engineer had proposed a cheaper route that saved most of the trees, and why it was rejected.
- A newspaper publishes the documents. Traffic experts write articles on both routes. The corporation answers with its own figures.
- At the council meeting, councillors debate the two options on the basis of the same papers.
Whatever the final decision, it is reached through an open exchange of ideas based on shared facts. That is exactly the goal the question describes, and the Act is the means of reaching it.
Limits and conditions for success
- Exemptions. Section 8 keeps some information closed, including security matters, Cabinet deliberations until decisions are taken, and personal information. Since 13 November 2025, section 8(1)(j) exempts "information which relates to personal information".
- Delay. Information given years late arrives after the debate is over. Vacancies in Information Commissions slow the Act down.
- Safety of users. Those who use information to challenge the powerful sometimes face threats, and no whistle-blower protection is in force.
- Literacy and access. Free exchange needs citizens able to read and use information, and offices that publish it in local languages.
| Need of free exchange of ideas | How the RTI Act meets it |
|---|---|
| Facts for debate | Sections 3, 6, 7: an easy right of access |
| Debate before decisions | Section 4(1)(c): facts of policies published |
| Knowing the real reasons | Sections 2(f), 4(1)(d): notings and reasons |
| Many voices | Press, researchers, voters, civil society |
| No monopoly over facts | Openness as the rule (S.P. Gupta) |
Conclusion. Free exchange of ideas is a pillar of democracy because the people can govern only through informed debate. The RTI Act achieves this goal by giving every citizen cheap and quick access to the facts of government. It requires policies, file notings and reasons to be disclosed, and widens the circle of speakers to the press, researchers, voters and civil society. It also denies the Government a monopoly over public facts, as Cricket Association of Bengal and S.P. Gupta require. The goal is fully met only when exemptions are applied narrowly, information arrives in time, and those who use it are safe.
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