Al Ahram, p.13, (16-10-2007)

A look at the Indian Right to Information Act

By: Gamal Mohammed Ghitas

In a statement to MENA, Chairman of the Shoura Council and Head of the Supreme Press Council said: "The Supreme Press Council is working in collaboration with the Press Association and the government to draw up the Draft Information Circulation Freedom Law." Hence, I call the Press Association and the Supreme Press Association to have a look at the Indian Right to Information Act  enacted on 15/6/2005, and take it as a guide.

The philosophy and aims of the Act

The preamble of the Indian Right to Information Act determined its philosophy and aims as it said:

"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.

WHEREAS the Constitution of India has established democratic Republic;

AND WHEREAS 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;

AND WHEREAS revelation of information in actual practice is likely to conflict with other public interests including efficient operations of the Governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information;

AND WHEREAS it is necessary to harmonise these conflicting interests while preserving the paramountcy of the democratic ideal;

NOW, THEREFORE, it is expedient to provide for furnishing certain information to citizens who desire to have it."

In view of this philosophy, the Act defines a set of terms, which is necessary to easily implement the law. It defines "information" as: "any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law."

A "record" is defined as: "any document, manuscript, file, microfilm, microfiche or facsimile copy of a document; any reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm; or any other material produced by a computer or any other device."

The "right to information" is defined as "the right to information held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the right to inspection of work, documents, records; taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records; taking certified samples of material; obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in any other device."

Information to be published without request

The Act includes articles determining the information to be published by every public authority without request. This information include:

• the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties;

• the powers and duties of its officers and employees;

• the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability;

• the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;

• the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions;

• a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control;

• the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof;

• a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public;

• a directory of its officers and employees;

• the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations;

• the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made;

• the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes;

• particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it;

• details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form;

• the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use;

• the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers.

Quality of Information

The Indian Act includes many articles addressing the quality of information owned and given by agencies. One article says: "Every public authority shall maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form which facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all records that are appropriate to be computerised are, within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources, computerised and connected through a network all over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated."

Another article says: "It shall be a constant endeavour of every public authority to take steps to provide as much information to the public at regular intervals through various means of communications, including internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information."

Procedures to acquire information

The Act gives the Indian citizen the right to acquire information according to the following procedures:

• A person, who desires to obtain any information shall make a request in writing or through electronic means, accompanying such fee as may be prescribed, to the Central Public Information Officer or his assistant. The applicant shall specify the particulars of the information sought by him or her. Provided that where such request cannot be made in writing, the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, shall render all reasonable assistance to the person making the request orally to reduce the same in writing.

• An applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any other personal details except those that may be necessary for contacting him.

• Where an application is made to a public authority requesting for an information which is held by another public authority or more closely connected with the functions of another public authority, the public authority, to which such application is made, shall transfer the application or such part of it as may be appropriate to that other public authority and inform the applicant immediately about such transfer.  The transfer of an application shall be made as soon as practicable but in no case later than five days from the date of receipt of the application.

• The Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, on receipt of a request for information shall, as expeditiously as possible, and in any case within thirty days of the receipt of the request, either provide the information on payment of such fee as may be prescribed or reject the request for any of the reasons specified under the Act. Provided that where the information sought for concerns the life or liberty of a person, the same shall be provided within forty-eight hours of the receipt of the request.

• The person making request for the information shall be provided the information free of charge where a public authority fails to comply with the time limits specified under the Act.

• Where access to information is to be provided in the printed or in any electronic format, the applicant shall pay such fee as may be prescribed, provided that the fee prescribed shall be reasonable and no such fee shall be charged from the persons who are of below poverty line as may be determined by the appropriate Government.

• Where a request has been rejected, the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, shall communicate to the person making the request the reasons for such rejection, the period within which an appeal against such rejection may be preferred, and the particulars of the appellate authority.

• An information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question.