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CH.1 INTRODUCTION

Accountability, Transparency, Freedom of Speech and Expressions etcetera, are

inalienable feature of any democratic system. And the importance of these becomes more
when it comes to such a diverse country like India. Right to Information Act, 2005 is a
step ahead in achievement of these ideals. The preamble of the Act itself provides that
“Democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are
vital to its functioning and also to contain corruption and to hold governments and their
instrumentalities accountable to the governed”.

The transformation from mere governance to good governance is possible only if the
citizens of the country have right and access to information of and participation in the
governance. The good governance is the governance in which people are served by their
representatives not ruled by their representatives. Participation of people is sine qua non
of any democratic form of government in achieving the ideal of good governance and
RTI is a measure step towards this goal. RTI, not only brings transparency, accountability
in governance but also act as the deterrent against the arbitrary actions, policies, and
decisions of public authorities.

Right to Information (RTI) is an index to measure the growth and development of a

country. In India, till 2005, the citizens had no access to any information which was dealt
by a Public Authority. Matters effecting public interest was not easy for a common man
to get accessibility. Thus, without getting relevant information it was difficult for a
citizen to participate in any social, political or economic debate concerning the issues or
interest of the country.

However, with the growing consciousness of participatory democracy, the inbuilt desire
to know and participate in the matters concerning the country or own self, reached a new
height that paved the way in which it could be ascertained and ensured was through
bringing the objective of transparency and accountability in the administration. In the

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International arena, the need to disseminate information was hugely felt and the first ever
RTI law was enacted by Sweden in 1766, largely motivated by the parliament’s interest
in access to information held by the King. The Swedish example was later followed by
the US, which enacted its first law in 1966 and then by Norway in 1970. Similarly,
several western democracies enacted their own laws (France and Netherlands 1978,
Australia, New Zealand and Canada 1982, Denmark 1985, Greece 1986, Austria 1987,
Italy 1990).1

By 1990, the number of countries with Freedom of Information (FOI) laws climbed to
thirteen. A big step forward was the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights in
2000, which included both freedom of expression and the right of access to documents.
By 2010, more than eighty five countries had national-level RTI laws or regulations. In
Asia so far almost 20 nations have adopted FOI laws like Kazakhstan, Afghanistan,
Bhutan, Maldives etc. In India, though Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution indirectly
guaranteed the right to know but this right was overshadowed by the Official Secrets Act,
1923. Thus the entire process of Government functioning was shielded in secrecy.

In such circumstances, the Indian judiciary played a vital role to strengthen the spirit of
democracy. The Supreme Court in S.P. Gupta v. Union of India2 endorsed the view that
under a democratic set up, the people have right to know about the functioning of the
Government. Again in Prabhu Dutt v. Union of India3, the Supreme Court held that the
right to know news and information regarding administration of the Government is
included in the freedom of press. There were many more such decisions that reiterated
the fundamental right to know and access information.

All these judicial pronouncements led the Government to enact The Freedom of
Information Act, 2002. But major restrictions in the Act became a hindrance to achieve
the objective of transparency and accountability. So, this 2002 Act was repealed by the

1
http://www.cuts-international.org/cart/pdf/Analysing_the_Right_to_ Information_Act_in_India.pdf
2
(1993) 4 SCC 441
3
AIR 1982 SC 6

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Right to Information Act, 2005. This legislation entitles every citizen to have access to
information controlled by public authorities. Under the Act, it is obligatory upon the
authority to provide information and maintain records consistent with its operational
needs. These records would have to be duly catalogued, indexed and published at such
intervals as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government or the competent
authority.4

Therefore, RTI, undoubtedly strengthen the governance. The right to Information Bill,
2005 was passed by the Lok Sabha on May 11, 2005 and by the Rajya Sabha on May 12,
2005 and received the assent of the President of India on June 15, 2005 and came to force
on October 12, 2005.

4
J. N. Pandey, The Constitutional Law of India, 175 (46th ed. 2009)

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CH.2 OBJECTIVES & IMPORTANT FEATURES OF RTI

The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to empower the citizens, promote
transparency and accountability and greater participation in the working of the
Government, Contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real
sense. It goes without saying that an informed citizen is better equipped to keep necessary
vigil on the instruments of governance and make the government more accountable to the
governed. The Act is a big step towards making the citizens informed about the activities
of the Government.

Objectives:

 Inspection of work, documents, records

 Taking notes extracts or certified copies of the documents or records
 Taking certified sample of material, and
 Obtaining information in electronic form, if available

Features:

 Every citizen possesses the right to information.

 The term information includes any mode of information in any form of record,
documents, email, circular, press release, contract sample or electronic data etc.
 Right to information covers inspection of work, document, record and its certified
copy and information in any other electronic mode.
 Applicant can obtain information within 30 days from the date of request in a
normal case.
 Information can be obtained within 48 hours from time of filing the request if it is
a matter of life or liberty of a person.
 Every public authority is under obligation to provide information on written
request or request by electronic means.
 Certain information is prohibited for security reasons.

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 Penalty for not providing information is Rs. 250/ per day but the total amount of
penalty should not exceed Rs. 25,000.
 Central Information Commission and State Information Commission are to be
constituted by the Central Government and the respective State Governments.
 No Court can entertain any suit, application or other proceedings in respect of any
order made under the Act.

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CH.3 RTI AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

The enactment of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005 was a landmark in the history
of public administration in India. The new legislation brought sensitivity, responsibility
and accountability to the development process especially in the rural areas. RTI Act is
path breaking in controlling corruption and delays in the implementation of Government-
sponsored programs and in the functioning of public authorities.

Information and knowledge are critical for realizing all the human aspirations, such as,
improvement in quality of life. Before this Act, the accountability of public authority was
practically minimal. The people who voted for the formation of democratically elected
Governments and paid taxes to finance public activities had no legal rights to know as to
what process has been followed in framing the policies affecting them, how the programs
have been implemented, who are the concerned officials associated with the decision
making process and execution of the schemes and why the promises made for delivery of
essential goods and services to the poor have not been fulfilled. Not surprisingly, the
culture of secrecy beginning from the colonial rule till the first six decades of
independence fuelled rampant corruption. Lack of openness and accountability in the
functioning of the Government not only bred inefficiency but perpetuated all forms of
poverty.5

Good governance basically has four elements: Transparency, Accountability,

Predictability and Participation. These criterions refer to the availability of information to
the general public and clarity about functioning of Governmental institutions. Right to
information helps in fulfilling these objectives. Good governance and right to information
are complimentary to each other. Good governance is characterized by- political
accountability, availability of freedom, bureaucratic accountability, availability of
information, effectiveness, efficiency, law abiding citizen and cooperation between

5
Smita Srivastava, The Right to Information in India: Implementation and Impact, Volume 1, No. 1
Quarter IV, Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences, 2010.

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Government and society. Therefore, we can say that the Right to information is a natural
corollary of good governance.

Promotes transparency and Good governance

Right to information enables citizens to see how governments, those in public offices are
working. Public should openly come to know what is to be happened and what has
happened. Transparency is the corner stone of any good government. Public has right, to
know about the policies and programmes of the government. All communication of the
government must be opened to the public. Access to information is a great enabler of
transparency and transparency refers to availability of information to general public and
clarity about functioning of government institutions. The Right to Information act is
intended to promote accountability and transparency in government by making the
process of government decision making more open. Though some departments of the
Union government are exempted from this act but the information can be sought if it is
concerned with violation of human rights. Even the information from the private
authority can be sought only through the controlling authority and controlling authority
will send the notice to the institution concerned under section 11 of the act. It has been
realized by most of the countries through experience that greater access of the citizens to
information enhances the openness of government to community needs. In turn, this
facilitates immediate redressed of public grievances and thus improves feeling of
goodwill towards the government.6 Capitalists and democratic countries have a higher
degree of openness vis-a-vis authoritarian regimes; nowhere in the world is government
functioning totally open.7

6
http://cic.gov.in/CIC-Articles/ArunaChhaba-01.htm
7
Joseph, V. (2001). Right to Information on a Broad Convas. The Indian journal of public administration:
vol. xivii. No.2. p.269.

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Promotes Accountability

Accountability is a key requirement of good governance. Without Accountability, the

root of any development failure cannot be traced. Not only the government, the private
sector institutions also be accountable to the people. Information is power and Right to
information act brings accountability and transparency in the administration.
Accountability involves the survival of a mechanism, which ensures that both political
and officials are answerable for their actions, performances and use of public resources.
If they fail to maintain accountability, their power and authority are finished.8 RTI Act
empowered the people to seek definite and officials of their works or lack of it. So,
accountability always led to effectiveness and sense of responsibility among government
officials. The RTI Act is sufficiently strong in its present form to even attack the roots of
corruption. There will forever be corruption at the lower levels as long as its seeds are
sown at the highest level. The RTI Act can be used to expose these seeds of corruption
which in turn can control corruption at the lower levels.9

Participation

Participation envisages involvement of the entire society in governance. Both men and women is
the cornerstone of good governance. Representative democracy does not mean the rule of chosen
few; it must take into interest of all sections specially the most vulnerable sections in the society.
Without people’s participation, the Right to Information will remain a non-starter. Participation has
a wide range of definitions. On the one side, some researchers take participation to mean simply
engaging with any particular activity (Bishop & Davis 2002; Paul 1987); on the other side,
researchers define participation as a process through which people influence and share control over
development initiatives (Arnstein 1971; Shand & Arnberg 1996; World Bank 1996).10 Right to
information act creates a connection between people and government. Good governance requires
that civil society has the opportunity to participate during the formulation of development strategies

8
Kumar M. Public Administration, New Challenges, Regal publications. New Delhi: p.122.
9
http://fightcorruption.wikidot.com/knowrti
10
http://vuir.vu.edu.au/16003/1/Thesis_3619041_Waheduzzaman.pdf

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and that directly affected communities and groups should be able to participate in the design and
implementation of programmes and projects. Even where projects have a secondary impact on
particular localities or population groups, there should be a consultation process that takes their
views into account. Citizens who understand public affairs and what government is doing can voice
their opinion on issues that affect their lives: they can participate in the business of government.
Right to information facilities citizens in making political and economic choices and thus
strengthens democracy. RTI act facilitated and encouraged the participation of common people on
the process of governance. Earlier people had the will, but did not have the way to take part in so-
called official affairs. But RTI act smooth the way for active participation of the common people in
governance.

Accessibility

Right to Information makes it possible to easy access of information from government departments,
documents, records, services, finances and policies to all sectors of community. A common poor
person interferes in the matter of government regarding development. The Right to Information act
by providing easy access of information reduces the established long gap between citizens and
administration and thus helps in nation building process. Every person becomes aware about day to
day activities of the government. When citizens have access to information about service delivery
and other government functions, they know what they are entitled to and they know how and where
to demand their right to those services and other benefits. In pre- RTI era people’s role was only
limited to the election of their leaders people did not have any right to know about the issues of
government activities. But RTI act gave the common people the much- needed right to seek
information about the works of their government and government authorities should purely co-
operate the citizens. The act was given the status of fundamental right and it is evident from the fact
that how important it is for the proper functioning of the government.

Empowerment

To ensure development in the local fields and peoples participation power must be decentralised.
This is also called empowerment of people. Before enactment of Right to Information Act,

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participation in political and economic processes and the ability to make informed choices has been
restricted to India. As a consequence, commoners remain ignorant of various schemes and are
unable to resist when their rights become causality. At the same time, people remain ignorant in
terms of the ways and means through they can obtain their entitled rights from the concerned
departments legally. According to French philosopher Michel Foucault, power is derived from
knowledge and information is the basic component of knowledge. So, in this age of technology
driven information revolution, empowerment means access to information. The first thing any
tyrannical government does is to restrict the people’s access to the resources of information and
monopolize over it while the principle of good governance demands free flow of information.
Concentration of information inevitability leads to centralisation of power. Now with enactment of
Right to Information act people can participate in decision making process and it enables the
citizens to know about the government decisions. The Right to Information act empowering people
by removing unnecessary secrecy surrounding in decision making process of the government.

Equity and Inclusiveness

It is another important feature of good governance. It implies everybody is a part of the governance
and they don’t feel expelled from the main stream of society. Every person should be same status in
the government decisions. The Right to information act also does not make any discrimination
between rich and poor and it covers all the citizens in India. It always plays a great role to fight
against inequality, in justice and inhuman activity.

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CH.4 CHALLANGES IN WAY OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

 Low Level of Awareness:

The Act itself through section 26 states that the appropriate government may develop and
organize educational programmes to promote the understanding of the public, especially
the disadvantage community, regarding how to exercise the right contemplated under the
Act. However, according to the surveys, nearly 20% of the respondents were aware of the
RTI Act. Sources of this awareness were:

 Mass media channels like television channels, newspapers etc.

 Word of mouth

This awareness level is further lower among disadvantaged community such as women,
rural population, and backward classes like SCs, STs, and OBCs.

 Inconvenient submission channels for RTI application:

As per Section 6(1) of the Act a citizen can 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 being made... However, inadequate efforts have been made to receive RTI
applications through electronic means i.e., on email/ website etc. which can be done by
the appropriate Government using Section 26(3c).

 Protection of Whistleblowers:

This is one of the most alarming issues in the way of RTI. Recent data and surveys
clearly show the increasing number of assault and murder of RTI activists throughout the
country. The whole purpose of the Act will be of no use if such types of activities are not
prevented and if strict punishments are not inflicted to the wrongdoers.

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 Lack of Uniformity:

The implementation of RTI act is uneven. It is not equally implemented to all the states.
Therefore, awareness level also differs from state to state. In states like Arunachal
Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab the awareness level about RTI act is high, on the other
hand awareness of people in Gujrat, Madhyapradesh, Jharkhand and UP is not high.
Moreover different rules for different states especially on fees and costs make the RTI
filing ineffective.11

 Favouritism:

Generally, it is observed that retired bureaucrats are being appointed for the post of
highest level of RTI officials i.e. the information commission at the central and state
levels. These commissions are the independent of the government. Activists are of the
opinion that these officials often show sympathetic attitude towards their fellow
colleagues.12

11
Borah, Sri Keshbananda, RTI: a key to good governance, International Journal of Humanities and Social
Science Invention, ISSN (Online): 2319 – 7722, Volume 2 Issue2.
12
Ibid.

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CH.5 IMPORTANT JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS RELATING RTI

In order to understand the effectiveness of a Fundamental Right it is important to analyse

the various aspects in which the right has been given effect by the Judiciary. A few
landmark cases have been taken to highlight the various facets relating to Right to
Information:

 In Bennett Coleman v. Union of India13, for the first time, right to know as a
Fundamental right was realized and consequently the Supreme Court ruled that the right
to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Art. 19(1) (a) included the right to
information.

 In State of UP v. Raj Narain14, Justice Mathew thoroughly stated, “It is not in the
interest of the public to cover with a veil of secrecy the common routine business … the
responsibility of officials to explain and to justify their acts is the chief safeguard against
oppression and corruption.”

 In Secretary, Ministry of I&B, Government of India v Cricket Association of Bengal15,

the Supreme Court held that the right to impart and receive information from electronic
media was included in the freedom of speech.

 In S.P. Gupta v. Union of India16, the right of the people to know about every public
act, and the details of every public transaction undertaken by public functionaries was
illustrated by the Apex Court of India.

 In People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India17, the right to information was
further elevated to the status of a human right, necessary for making governance
transparent and accountable.

13
AIR 1973 SC 106
14
1975 (004) SCC 0428 SC
15
1995(002) SCC 0161 SC
16
AIR 1982 SC 149

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Landmark Decisions by the Chief Election Commission

 In the case of Paramveer Singh v. Punjab University18, the applicant applied for information
regarding the merit list for selection of candidates to a particular post in the university. However, no
proper information was provided. The Commission held that every public authority, must take all
measures in pursuance of Section 4(1) (a) to implement efficient record management systems in
their offices so that the requests for information can be dealt promptly and accurately.

 In the case of Shyam Yadav v. Department of Personnel Training19, the applicant had sought
details of property statements filed by bureaucrats. The Commission held that property statements
filed by civil servants are not confidential and information can be disclosed after taking the views of
concerned officials as per the provisions of the RTI Act.

 In case of Ram Bhaj v. Delhi Government20, the appellant sought information about the
guidelines issued by the Department of Personnel and Training regarding the disposal of public
grievances within a specified time frame. The CIC directed the Delhi Government to inform the
common man about the timeframe required to redress their grievances.

17
2003(001)SCW 2353 SC
18
(CIC/OK/A/2006/000669, 15/6/2006)
19
(CIC/WB/A/2009/000669, 17/6/2009)
20
(CIC/SG/A/2010/000537+000538/7492, 19/4/2010)

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CH.6 CONCLUSION

The right to information act is an agent of good governance. The RTI makes
administration more accountable to the people. The people become aware of
administration and give them an opportunity to take part in decision making process. The
RTI promoted democratic ideology by promoting openness and transparency in the
administration. The best way to deal with all these challenges while promoting good
governance is by making the act redundant. The governments, instead of waiting for the
common people to seek the information, must voluntary make all the information
available to the people. It will not only promote good governance but also increase the
trust between government and the people it governs.

Thus it can be correctly said that RTI as a whole is a great step in a democratic set up like
India. It is a powerful tool that can deliver significant social benefits. It can provide a
strong support to democracy and promote good governance by empowering citizen’s
ability to participate effectively and hold government officials accountable rather than
just an information provider.

However, there are challenges in the effective implementation of the Act but the same
can be removed by taking suitable measures and the goal of good governance, i.e.
transparency, accountability, greater participation etc. can be achieved through RTI.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dr. J.N Pandey, The Constitutional Law of India, Central Law Agency, 46th
Edition, 2009.
Dr. Abhe Singh Yadav, Right to Information Act, 2005 – An Analysis, 3rd
Edition, 2012
http://rti.gov.in/rticorner/studybypwc/progress_made.pdf
https://right2information.wordpress.com/category/rtisuccess-stories/
http://rti.gov.in/manu_moudgil_rti_fellowship_report.pdf
http://rti.gov.in/rticorner/studybypwc/progress_made.pdf
Dr. K. P. Malik, Dr. K.C. Raval, Law and Social Transformation in India, 3rd
Edition, 2012.

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