The RTI Act 2005: Object, Application, Definitions and Salient Features

In one line

The Act is short, it applies to every public authority in India except a listed few, and everything in it turns on four defined words: information, record, right to information and public authority.

In the words a student can write in an exam: the Right to Information Act 2005, being Act 22 of 2005, was enacted to set out the practical regime of the right to information for citizens, so as to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority. It extends to the whole of India, applies to all public authorities as defined in section 2(h), which includes bodies established by or under the Constitution, by any law of Parliament or a State legislature, and by notification or order of the appropriate Government, together with bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed by it and non-governmental organisations substantially financed by it. Its salient features are a broadly defined right, a designated officer in every authority, a simple procedure with no requirement to give reasons, a strict time limit, defined exemptions, a two tier appeal to independent Information Commissions, a personal penalty on the defaulting officer, and a duty of proactive publication.

The object

The long title states that it is 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.

The words "practical regime" are the whole point and are worth quoting. The right existed already; what the Act provides is a regime in which it can be used, which is the argument developed in [Transparency and the Right to Information: a Constitutional Imperative].

The preamble adds the balance: transparency is vital to democracy and to containing corruption; disclosure conflicts with other public interests including efficient operation of governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information; and these are to be harmonised while preserving the paramountcy of the democratic ideal.

Application

Section 1 provides for the short title, extent and commencement. The Act extends to the whole of India.

Two limits on application must be given.

1. It applies to public authorities, as defined, and not to private bodies as such. But information relating to a private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law is within the definition of information in section 2(f), so a regulator's file about a private company is obtainable.
2. Section 24 excludes certain organisations, being the intelligence and security organisations specified in the Second Schedule, with a proviso for information about allegations of corruption and human rights violations. That is treated in [Exemptions from Disclosure].