A concerted attack on RTI

This year marks 15 years of the enactment of the Right to Information (RTI) law, which has empowered millions to assert their citizenship and show truth to power.

Right to Information act, 2005:

It gives the citizens the right to seek information, held by any Public Authority.
It aims to bring about transparency in the functioning of public authorities, contain corruption and to hold Governments and their instrumentalities accountable to people.
It provides for a two-tier appeals mechanism (the central and state information commissions) to deal with complaints of unreasonable denial of information by public authorities
Under Section 4(2) of the RTI Act, “It shall be a constant endeavor of every public authority, to provide as much information suo motu to the public at regular intervals, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.”
Public Information Officer has to be appointed by each Public authority
Time limit for providing information is thirty days and if it is related to life or liberty it is forty-eight hours.
Specific exemptions provided under Sec 8 and Sec 9 of the Act – National security, Sovereignty, Relations with foreign states, Trade secrets, Individual safety, Personal privacy.
CIC and other Information commissioners to be appointed by a committee consisting of PM, LOP and a Cabinet Minister.
Five years of tenure or upto 65 years is the age limit.
Terms of office are like CEC for CIC and like EC for other ICs.
Removal is like members of UPSC.

Procedure:

The applicant should get information within 30 days.
If he is not satisfied / does not get information, he can appeal within 30 days to the Appellate Authority.
The Appellate Authority has to decide within 30 days.
If the applicant is not satisfied with the Appellate Authority, he can file a second appeal with CIC or SIC as the case may be, within 90 days.

RTI amendment act 2019:

The Act Amends Sections 13 and 16 of the RTI Act, 2005.
Section 13 of the original Act sets the term of the central Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners at five years (or until the age of 65, whichever is earlier). The amendment proposes that the appointment will be for such a term as may be prescribed by the Central Government.
It also amends Section 13 and proposes that the salaries, allowances and other terms of service of the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners shall be such as may be prescribed by the Central Government. Previously it was equivalent to that of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners respectively.
The government said that the amendment is required because the election commission is a Constitutional body while the information commission, formed under the Right to Information Act, is a statutory one.

The right to information has been upheld by the Supreme Court as a fundamental right flowing from Article 19 of the Constitution, which guarantees every citizen the right to free speech and expression.
Without access to relevant information, people’s ability to formulate opinions and express themselves meaningfully is curtailed.
Since its enactment, the RTI law has been used by people to seek information to actively participate in decision-making processes and hold governments accountable.

Every year nearly six million applications are filed under the RTI Act, making it the most extensively used transparency legislation in the world.
National assessments have shown that a large proportion of these are filed by the poorest and the most marginalised who have understood the tremendous potential of the law to empower them to access their basic rights and entitlements.
During the COVID-19 crisis too, the law has been widely used to seek information about availability of medical facilities, like ventilators and ICU beds, and to hold government departments accountable for delivery of foodgrains and social security benefits meant for those in distress, including migrant workers.
The RTI Act has also been put to effective use by public-spirited citizens to shine the light on corruption and arbitrary abuse of power by the state.
By giving every citizen of India the right to access government files and records, the law has potentially created 1.3 billion whistleblowers and auditors.

The worst blow to the RTI regime has come in the form of a persistent and concerted attack on the transparency watchdogs set up under the law.
Information Commissions at the Centre and in the States are the final adjudicators empowered to act against violations of the legislation.
RTI (Amendment) Act 2019 allows the Central government to determine the tenure and salaries of all Information Commissioners, signalling that directions to disclose inconvenient information could invite adverse consequences.
The functioning of commissions has been severely impeded by governments not appointing Information Commissioners in a timely manner.
Vacancies in Information Commissions lead to large backlogs of appeals/complaints and long delays in the disposal of cases, effectively frustrating the people’s right to know.

The right to question being the hallmark of a democracy, any attack on the RTI law, which has empowered citizens to question those in power, is an attack on the foundation of our democratic republic.
As the RTI law completes 15 years, it is again time for those whom it empowers, the citizens to assert themselves and protect their fundamental right to information, which they attained after a long struggle.

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