Law RTI Act

8/3/2019 Law RTI Act

1/37

RTI Act As A Tool To ImproveRTI Act As A Tool To ImproveGood Governance PracticesGood Governance Practices

Vipul Tenpe (162)

Manan Thadeshwar (164)

Pearl Thomas (166)

Tanmay Tungare (168)

Kamlesh Varma (170)

Pankaj Vhatkar (172)Shweta Shyamsunder (174)

Saurabh Sawant (176)

Pallavi Prasade (178)

Pankaj Goyal (180)


2/37

What Is Right to Information?

Powerful tool

Comprehensive

Applicable to Government

Fundamental human right

Freedom of information

Freedom of opinion and expression

Core of human rights

Key to democracy and development


3/37

NEED FOR RTI

Making democracy meaningful1991 Harare Declaration

The Commonwealth Law

Flow of information

Supporting people - centred developmentPoverty reduction

Sustainable development

Multilateral institutions

Tackling corruptionRight to access information:

Essential and practical antidote

Acts as a source of lightHelps civil society


4/37

EVOLUTIONOF RTI

1990 - Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathana

1993 - First draft RTI law

1996 - Model Law

1997 - Freedom of Information Bill- Shourie Committees Report & draft Law

1999 - Administrative order

2000 - Freedom of Information

2002 - Freedom of Information Act

2003 - Presidential Assent - Maharashtra adopted RTI

2004 - RTI Bill was tabled

2005 - RTI Bill passed


5/37

RTI Act Features, Process &

Exemptions


6/37

RTI Act

3 Obligations of a Public Authority [Section 4]

3 Provide Information Suo Motu,Disseminate Widely

Section 4 (2), (3) & (4)]

3 Obligations of Public Information Officers [Section 5(3) &

(4), 6(1) & 7(1)]

3 Disposal of Request [Section 7 (1) to (8)]

3 Information upto 20 Years [Section 8 (3)]

3 Protection of Copyright [Section 9]

3 Access to Part of Record[Section 10]


7/37

Features

Empowers every citizen to seek any information & inspectany document.

Designate PIO in each department who accept request &provide information.

Provision of APIO File application in writing or through electronic with

application fee.

In case of uneducated, deaf, blind; Assistance is sought.

Only applicants name & contact details required.

Application fee will be charged according to economic

condition & vary state wise.

If PIO fails to give information within time, charged

penalty of Rs 250 each day to PIO.


8/37

An Indian

Citizen

Submits

PIOInformation

Released

Application

Rejected

Appeal to DepartmentalAppellate Authority

(AA) within 30 days

Decision

within 30-

45 DaysInformation

Released

Complaint to

InformationCommissioner (NO

Time Limit)

AA Rejects

IC considers the

PIOs reasons forrejecting the

application

Penalty/Case on PIOfor Rejecting the

Information

Released

InformationReleased

Case

Rejected

Court

Case

Appeal/

Complaint

Court OrdersDisclosure and

Disciplinary Hearings

Process Flowchart


9/37

Exemptions from Disclosure

Information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect thesovereignty and integrity of India

Information which has been expressly forbidden to be published byany court of law

Information, the disclosure of which would cause a breach ofprivilege of Parliament or the State Legislature

Information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or

intellectual property, the disclosure of which would harm thecompetitive position of a third party

Information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unlessthe competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interestwarrants the disclosure of such information


10/37

Exemptions from Disclosure

Information received in confidence from foreign Government

Information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life orphysical safety of any person

Information which would impede the process of investigation orapprehension or prosecution of offenders

Cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of

Ministers, Secretaries and other officers provided that:

Information which relates to personal information the disclosure ofwhich has no relationship to any public activity or interest


11/37

International Perspective


12/37

International trend

3 The first RTI law was enacted by Sweden in 1766, Later

amended in 1949 .

3 Later followed by the US, which enacted its first law in

1966 and then by Norway in 1970.

3 By 2010, more than 85 countries had national-level RTI

laws or regulations

3 In Asia so far almost 20 nations have adopted FOI laws.

3 Mexico Successful Model, as 2,00,000 applications were

handled in first 5 yrs of its implementation

3 South Africa only such law that permits access to records

held by private as well as public authorities


13/37

USA, UK & INDIA

3 The United States enacted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966 andintroduced amendments in 1974 and 1986.

3 India's RTI has certain weaknesses, there is criticism which the InformationCommissioners are appointed to head the information commission.

3 Bureaucrats working in close association with the government are appointed tothe positions of RTI Commissioners in a non-transparent manner.

3 In UK, Information is released in 20 days, whereas in India it is 30 days

3 India has no law that protects whistle-blowers.

3 Case Let

A 43- year-old Lt Col Baljinder Singh Goraya found that illegal watches were beingsold in the Indian army without proper billing


14/37

Comparing India & Developed Nations


15/37

Views of PIO forDelays

Record Management

More than 38% feelIneffective RecordManagement System

Approx 43% are notaware about Record

Management Guidelines

Training/Knowledge

Approx 45% feel thatnot given training inRTI

Approx 43% are notaware of the proactivedisclosure of their PAs

Approx 39% are notaware of key SIC

judgements


16/37

Recent Developments


17/37

PM Comments on the RTI

3 PM Mr. Singh signaled the governments intent

to review

3 Activists and politicians opposed the move

3 Activists opposed to the increased list under

section 24


18/37

Right To Information

(Amendment) Bill 2011

3 MP from Maharashtra proposed the bill

3 Bill regarding the clause of the reason to be

mentioned

3Unjustified use of the Information

3 RTI activist opposed the bill


19/37

New Breed of Professionals

3 Experts on RTI act draft questionnaire for

applicants

3 Advise them about their case after listening their

grievances

3 Even file case in place of CLIENTS for a FEE


20/37

BCCI and IOA UnderNSF

3 Proposal opposed by BCCI and IOA to continue

free from public scrutiny

3 Bill aimed at creating and enabling legal

framework

3 BCCI would be forced to follow WADA rules


21/37

Recommendations


22/37

Protection of Information Providers

3 In April 2004, the Supreme Court pressed the government

to provide protection to the informers

3 Designated Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) as the

nodal agency to handle complaints on corruption

3 Public Interest Disclosure (Protection of Informers) Bill

2010 introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 26, 2010.


23/37

Improving efficiencies at

Information Commission

Passing order on obvious cases without hearing

Composition of Information Commissions

Induction Period for

New Commissioners


24/37

Improving Convenience

in Filing Requests

Convenient options for collection of Fees

Alternative Channels for submission of RTI requests

Developing multiple access channels


25/37

Awareness

Approximately 43% of the PIOs, not aware of the record

management guideline

Only 13% of the rural population and 33% in urban

population are aware of RTI Act

Needs adequate budget

National and State level programme needed


26/37


27/37

Third party audit

3Regular audits would facilitate the PublicAuthorities to comply with the RTI Act

3Will monitor the performance of public Authorities

3Will take appropriate action in case of anydeviation


28/37

Case Studies & Conclusion


29/37

Political

How to use RTI Act to hold elected representatives accountable to theCitizens of Andhra Pradesh

Issue raised by Shri Suresh Ediga

Filed RTI application to demand the following information1) How many days was the assembly session held starting from January 2006 tillDecember 2006?

2) How many hours did it constitute?

3) How many bills were passed during these sessions? Please provide specificinformation as to what the bills were and what is their implementation strategy?

4) Were any bills withdrawn, if so what were they and why were they withdrawn?

5) How many bills were introduced?

Edigas view -There is a strong case for urging the Legislative Assembly for suomotu disclosure under section 4(2) of RTI Act


30/37

Political

Governments view - No one is entitled to ask a public

authority to create records. Info can be denied under

section 8(1)(c).

According to Section 8(2), access to information should be

allowed, if public interest in disclosure outweighs the

harm to protected interest.

Implications of the case common man aware of his dutiesand watching closely over the administrative process .


31/37

Economical

Foreign firms involved in CWG scam, alleges RTIactivist.

Eight-foreign missions, have sought clearance of pending paymentsof their firms involved in the Commonwealth Games.

RTI activist S .C . Aggarwal files for a probe into the matter.

Reply given to S .C. Aggarwal :

Out of total contracted amount of Rs.630.22 crore, the governmenthas paid Rs.252.53crore.

The payment bill is as much as 11.8 million dollars to one company.


32/37

Economical

10 million Euros to another.

Prasar Bharti defaulted in payment of 12 million pounds to UK

company.

Peddle Thorpe Architects have not yet received two million dollars

fromDelhi Development Authority.

S C Aggarwal raised the issue regarding the defaulting of payments,whether the funds allocated were utilized properly

Whether any unofficial payments were made to the foreign companies.


33/37

Social

Slum dweller applied for a new ration card

3 Told to give a bribe of Rs.2000, which he denied

3 Found out that bribe givers got their ration cards before him

3 Waited for four weeks before filing RTI application

3

Asked upto which date applications for ration cards had been cleared,and the daily progress report of his application.

3 PIO found no justification for delay in the process

3 Procedure fast tracked and ration card was given to him


34/37

Social

A 30-year-old daily wager,Haroon suffering from kidneystones .

Ignored by Hospital authorities continuously for one year.

Filed an RTI application with the help ofNGOPardarshita.

Days later, the doctor made sure his operation was done.

RTI Act helped Haroon.


35/37


36/37

ConclusionConclusion

RTI Act a tool in bringing about transparency and accountability at all

levels of governance.

Much higher impact on the quality of life of the poor and marginalized

section of the society.

But power of the Act yet to be fully realized.

Awareness needs to be created regarding the powers that the act canexert on the governing bodies.

Proper utilization of the act to give democracy its true sense.


37/37

THANK YOU

Documents

Law RTI Act