Obligations of Public Authorities and How a Request Is Made

and further clauses covering particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations; information available in electronic form; the facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including working hours of a library or reading room; the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers; and such other information as may be prescribed.

Two of those clauses are cited elsewhere in this book because they carry weight beyond the Act. Clause (iv), the norms set for the discharge of functions, is what forces a department to have standards at all, which is the point made in [Accountability and Responsiveness: Problems and Perspectives]. Clause (vii), arrangements for consultation with or representation by the public in formulating policy, is a statutory recognition of public participation, discussed in [Use of Media, Lobbying and Public Participation].

Sections 4(1)(c) and 4(1)(d)

Clause (c): publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing decisions which affect the public.

Clause (d): provide reasons for its administrative or quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons. This is a statutory duty to give reasons, running alongside the judge made duty in [Reasoned Decisions], and it is worth citing in any answer on that topic.

Section 4(2) and 4(3)

Sub-section (2): it shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority to take steps in accordance with the requirements of clause (b) of sub-section (1) to provide as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals, through various means of communication including the internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.

That closing phrase states the design of the Act: the ideal is that nobody should need to apply, because everything is already published.

Sub-section (3): information shall be disseminated widely and in a form and manner easily accessible to the public.

Section 5: the officers

Every public authority shall, within one hundred days of the enactment, designate as many officers as Central Public Information Officers or State Public Information Officers as may be necessary, in all administrative units or offices, to provide information to persons requesting it.

It shall also designate Central or State Assistant Public Information Officers at each sub-divisional level, to receive applications and appeals for forwarding.

A Public Information Officer may seek the assistance of any other officer as he considers necessary for the proper discharge of his duties, and that officer is then treated as a Public Information Officer for the purposes of any contravention, which matters when a penalty is imposed under section 20.

Section 6: making a request

Sub-section (1): a person who desires to obtain information shall make a request in writing or through electronic means, in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area in which the application is made, accompanied by the prescribed fee, to the Public Information Officer or the Assistant Public Information Officer of the concerned public authority, specifying the particulars of the information sought. Where the request cannot be made in writing, the officer shall render all reasonable assistance to the person making the request orally to reduce it to writing.

That proviso matters: the Act is designed to be usable by a person who cannot write.

Sub-section (2): an applicant shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information, or any other personal details except those necessary for contacting him.

This is the most radical provision in the Act. It removes from the official the question whether the citizen deserves to know, and leaves only the question whether the information is exempt.

Sub-section (3): where an application is made to a public authority for information held by another public authority, or the subject matter of which is more closely connected with the functions of another public authority, the authority shall transfer the application, or the relevant part of it, to that other authority and inform the applicant, and the transfer shall be made as soon as practicable and in any case within five days.

Section 7: disposal

Sub-section (1): the Public Information Officer shall, on receipt of a request, as expeditiously as possible, and in any case within thirty days of the receipt, either provide the information on payment of the prescribed fee or reject the request for any of the reasons specified in sections 8 and 9.

Proviso: where the information sought concerns the life or liberty of a person, it shall be provided within forty-eight hours of the receipt of the request.

Sub-section (2): if the officer fails to give a decision within the period specified, he shall be deemed to have refused the request. That deeming is what makes the appeal machinery work, because silence would otherwise leave the applicant with nothing to appeal against.

Sub-section (3): where further fee is payable, the officer must send an intimation with the calculation, and the period between the intimation and the payment is excluded from the thirty days.

Further provisions of section 7 require that where access is provided in part or refused, the officer must communicate the reasons, the period within which an appeal may be preferred and the particulars of the appellate authority; that information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought; and that where a person is sensorily disabled, assistance shall be provided to enable access.

Where the application relates to a third party, section 7's time limit is extended to forty days, because section 11 requires the third party to be given notice and an opportunity to make a submission.

Sections 10 and 11: severability and third parties

Section 10, severability: where a request is rejected on the ground that the information is exempt, access may nevertheless be provided to that part of the record which does not contain exempt information and which can reasonably be severed from the part that does. Where partial access is given, the officer must give a notice stating that only part is being provided after severance, the reasons for the decision including findings on material questions of fact and the material on which they were based, the name and designation of the person giving the decision, the fee calculated, and the applicant's rights of review.

Section 10 is the answer to the officer who refuses an entire file because one paragraph is exempt.

Section 11, third party information: where the officer intends to disclose information which relates to or has been supplied by a third party and has been treated as confidential by that third party, he shall within five days give written notice to the third party of the request and of his intention to disclose, and invite the third party to make a submission in writing or orally on whether the information should be disclosed, and that submission shall be kept in view while deciding. The third party has a right of appeal against a decision to disclose.

A worked example

Priya Nayak wants the file on a road contract.

1. Check section 4 first. The tender notice, the norms for awarding contracts, the budget allocated and the particulars of recipients of concessions may already be published under section 4(1)(b). If they are, she need not apply.
2. The application. A written or electronic request under section 6(1), in Marathi if that is the official language of the area, with the prescribed fee, specifying the particulars sought. If she cannot write, the officer must reduce her oral request to writing.
3. No reasons. By section 6(2) she need not say why she wants it, and the officer may not ask.
4. Wrong authority. If the file is with the Public Works Department and she applied to the Collector, the application must be transferred within five days under section 6(3).
5. Time. Thirty days under section 7(1). If the request concerned the life or liberty of a person, forty-eight hours. If the officer says nothing, the request is deemed refused under section 7(2) and she may appeal.
6. Third party. The contractor's tender documents were supplied by him and treated as confidential, so section 11 applies: he gets five days' notice and may make a submission, and the time limit becomes forty days.
7. Partial refusal. If the file contains one exempt document, section 10 requires the rest to be given, with a notice stating the reasons, the findings, the name of the deciding officer and her right of appeal.
8. Reasons for refusal. Section 7 requires the officer to communicate the reasons, the appeal period and the appellate authority's particulars.

What it does NOT mean

It does not mean the authority must create information. It must give what it holds.

It does not mean a request can be refused for want of a reason. Section 6(2) forbids asking.

It does not mean an entire file can be withheld because part is exempt. Section 10 requires severance.

It does not mean silence protects the officer. Section 7(2) deems a failure to decide a refusal, and section 20 penalises delay.

Quick revision

1. Section 4(1)(a): records duly catalogued and indexed, and computerised and networked where appropriate.
2. Section 4(1)(b): publication within one hundred and twenty days of seventeen classes, including the particulars of organisation, functions and duties; powers and duties of officers; the decision making procedure with channels of supervision and accountability; the norms set for the discharge of functions; rules, instructions and manuals; categories of documents; arrangements for consultation with or representation by the public in formulating policy; boards and committees and whether their meetings are open; a directory of officers; monthly remuneration; budgets and disbursements; subsidy programmes and beneficiaries; recipients of concessions and permits; information in electronic form; facilities for obtaining information; and the particulars of the Public Information Officers.
3. Section 4(1)(c): publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies. Section 4(1)(d): provide reasons for administrative and quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons.
4. Section 4(2): constant endeavour to provide information suo motu, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of the Act.
5. Section 5: Public Information Officers within one hundred days, and Assistant Public Information Officers at sub-divisional level.
6. Section 6: request in writing or electronically, in English, Hindi or the official language of the area, with the prescribed fee; oral requests reduced to writing with assistance; no reason to be required, section 6(2); transfer to the correct authority within five days, section 6(3).
7. Section 7: thirty days, or forty-eight hours where life or liberty is concerned; failure to decide is deemed refusal; reasons, appeal period and appellate authority to be communicated; forty days where a third party is involved.
8. Section 10: severability. Section 11: five days' notice to a third party who treated the information as confidential, with a right to make a submission and to appeal.

Test yourself

1. What obligations does section 4 impose on a public authority? To maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a form facilitating the right to information, and to computerise and network records where appropriate. To publish, within one hundred and twenty days of the enactment, seventeen classes of information, including its organisation, functions and duties, the powers and duties of its officers, its decision making procedure with channels of supervision and accountability, the norms set for the discharge of its functions, the rules, instructions and manuals it uses, the categories of documents held, the arrangements for consultation with or representation by the public in formulating policy, its boards and committees and whether their meetings are open, a directory of officers, their monthly remuneration, budgets and disbursements, subsidy programmes and beneficiaries, recipients of concessions and permits, information in electronic form, the facilities available for obtaining information, and the particulars of its Public Information Officers. To publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies. To provide reasons for its administrative and quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons. And to make it a constant endeavour to provide information suo motu at regular intervals, including through the internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of the Act.

2. How is a request for information made, and can the officer ask why it is wanted? Under section 6(1) a person makes a request in writing or through electronic means, in English or Hindi or the official language of the area in which the application is made, accompanied by the prescribed fee, addressed to the Public Information Officer or the Assistant Public Information Officer of the concerned public authority, specifying the particulars of the information sought; and where the request cannot be made in writing, the officer must render all reasonable assistance to reduce an oral request to writing. The officer may not ask why the information is wanted: section 6(2) provides that an applicant shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information, or any personal details except those necessary for contacting him. That provision is the most radical in the Act, because it removes the official's power to judge whether the citizen deserves to know and leaves only the question whether the information is exempt.

3. What are the time limits under section 7? The Public Information Officer must, as expeditiously as possible and in any case within thirty days of receipt of the request, either provide the information on payment of the prescribed fee or reject it for a reason specified in section 8 or section 9. Where the information sought concerns the life or liberty of a person, it must be provided within forty-eight hours. Where a third party is involved and section 11 applies, the period is forty days. The time between an intimation of further fee and its payment is excluded. If the officer fails to give a decision within the period specified, he is deemed by section 7(2) to have refused the request, which is what enables the applicant to appeal against silence.

4. Explain severability under section 10. Where a request is rejected on the ground that the information is exempt from disclosure, access may nevertheless be given to that part of the record which does not contain exempt information and which can reasonably be severed from the part that does. Where partial access is granted, the officer must give notice to the applicant stating that only part of the record is being provided after severance, the reasons for the decision including any findings on material questions of fact and the material on which those findings were based, the name and designation of the person giving the decision, the details of the fee calculated and the amount to be deposited, and the applicant's rights of review including the particulars of the senior officer or the Information Commission, the time limit and the process. The section is the answer to an officer who withholds an entire file because one document in it is exempt.

5. What protection does a third party have under section 11? Where the Public Information Officer intends to disclose information which relates to or has been supplied by a third party and has been treated as confidential by that third party, he must within five days of receiving the request give written notice to the third party of the request and of his intention to disclose, and invite the third party to make a submission in writing or orally on whether the information should be disclosed; that submission must be kept in view when the decision is taken. Because this process takes time, the period for disposal of such a request is forty days rather than thirty. The third party also has a right of appeal against a decision to disclose, so that the decision is not final until he has had the opportunity to challenge it.