Right to Information Act 2005

Also called: RTI Act · Topic: Transparency, Accountability and e-Governance · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 6 "The State, the Government, and You"; Class 9, Ch 6 "Democracy"; Class 10, Ch 5 "Outcomes of Democracy"; Class 11, Ch 1 "Political Theory: An Introduction"; Class 11, Ch 5 "Rights"; Class 11, Ch 4 "Executive"

Meaning

The Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI Act) is a law of Parliament. It lets any citizen ask a public authority for information without giving a reason. The authority must reply within fixed time limits, usually 30 days, and can refuse only on grounds the Act allows. Information Commissions enforce these rules, and an officer who breaks them can be fined.

It matters because it gives ordinary people a tool to check what the government does and how it spends public money. Class 9 NCERT treats it as a tool of accountability (the government must answer for its actions).

Explanation

Who has the right, and against whom

• Section 3: only a citizen holds the right. Foreigners and companies get no right under the Act.
• No reasons needed (s.6(2)): the applicant gives only contact details so the reply can reach them.
• "Information" (s.2(f)): any material in any form, such as:
• records, documents, memos and e-mails;
• opinions, advice, circulars, orders, logbooks and contracts;
• samples, models and electronic data;

• information about a private body that a public authority can access under any law.

• "Right to information" (s.2(j)): the right to:

• inspect works and records;
• take notes, extracts or certified copies (copies an officer signs as true);
• take certified samples of material;

• get information in electronic form.

• "Public authority" (s.2(h)): a body that must answer RTI requests. It covers bodies that are:

• set up by or under the Constitution;
• set up by a law of Parliament or a State Legislature;
• set up by a government notification or order;
• owned, controlled or substantially financed by government, including NGOs that get substantial government funds.

How a request moves: steps and time limits

1. Apply to the Public Information Officer (PIO) (s.5). This is the officer named in each public authority to handle requests: the CPIO at the Centre and the SPIO in states. - The application can be in English, Hindi or the official language of the area, on paper or online. - The PIO must help a person who cannot write (s.6(1)). - An Assistant PIO at sub-division or district level can accept the application and pass it on (s.5(2)).

2. Pay the fee: ₹10 at the Centre. BPL (below poverty line) applicants pay nothing.

3. Transfer if needed: if the request belongs to another authority, it must be sent there within 5 days and the applicant must be told (s.6(3)).
4. Get a reply (s.7). The PIO either gives the information or refuses it with reasons under s.8 or s.9.

Situation	Time limit	Provision
Normal reply	30 days	s.7(1)
Life or liberty of a person involved	48 hours	proviso to s.7(1)
Filed through an APIO	+5 days (35 in all)	s.5(2)
Third-party information	40 days	s.11
Security or intelligence body (Second Schedule), only for corruption or human-rights claims	45 days	s.24

• Deemed refusal (s.7(2)): no reply in time counts as a refusal, and the applicant can appeal at once.
• Late means free (s.7(6)): if the deadline is missed, the information must be given free of charge.
• Severability (s.10): if only part of a record is exempt, the PIO removes that part and gives the rest.
• Third party (s.11): if the information concerns someone who treated it as confidential, that person gets a chance to object.

Proactive disclosure (Section 4)

• Proactive disclosure: information the authority must publish on its own, without anyone asking.
• s.4(1)(b): lists 17 categories, which had to be published within 120 days of the Act's enactment and must be kept up to date. Examples:
• the body's functions and duties;
• its officers' powers and monthly pay;
• its budget and spending;
• its subsidy schemes and who benefits from them;

• the details of its PIOs.

• s.4(2): the authority should publish so much on its own that people need to file RTI applications as little as possible.

• Weak in practice: transparency audits find many official websites incomplete or out of date.

Appeals, complaints and penalties

• First appeal (s.19(1)): to an officer senior to the PIO in the same authority, filed within 30 days. It must be decided in 30 days, extendable to 45.
• Second appeal (s.19(3)): to the Central or State Information Commission, filed within 90 days of the first-appeal decision.
• Complaint (s.18): goes straight to the Commission. It is used when, for example:
• no PIO has been named;
• a request was refused;
• the fee charged was too high;
• the information given was false or incomplete.

While hearing a complaint, the Commission has the powers of a civil court, such as summoning people and examining records.

• Burden of proof (s.19(5)): the PIO, not the applicant, must prove that the refusal was justified.
• Penalty (s.20): ₹250 a day, up to ₹25,000.
• It is recovered from the PIO's own salary, not from the department.
• The Commission can also recommend disciplinary action for repeated default.

In the Constitution and practice

Legal basis

• The RTI Act 2005 is an Act of Parliament. It grew out of the MKSS (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan) movement in 1990s Rajasthan. MKSS held jan sunwais (public hearings) where villagers checked muster rolls and bills for village works.
• The Central Information Commission (CIC) (s.12) is a statutory body, meaning a law created it, not the Constitution.
• It has a Chief Information Commissioner and up to 10 Information Commissioners.
• A panel recommends names (s.12(3)): the Prime Minister (chair), the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet minister nominated by the PM.

• The President appoints them.

• State Information Commissions (s.15) are appointed by the Governor. The panel is the Chief Minister, the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and a Cabinet minister nominated by the CM.

• Removal (s.14):
• for proved misbehaviour or incapacity, the President refers the charge to the Supreme Court, which holds an inquiry;
• if the Court upholds the charge, the President removes the member;
• the President can also remove a member directly for insolvency, conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude, or taking paid outside work.

RTI (Amendment) Act 2019

• Before 2019: members had a fixed five-year term (or served until age 65) [3]. The Chief Information Commissioner's pay matched the Chief Election Commissioner's.
• After 2019: the Central Government decides the term, pay and service conditions of both central and state commissioners [3].
• RTI Rules 2019: notified on 24 October 2019. They set a three-year term [2].
• At the Centre: ₹2,50,000 a month for the Chief Information Commissioner and ₹2,25,000 for each Information Commissioner [2].
• In the states: ₹2,25,000 a month for both State Chief and State Information Commissioners [2].

Landmark cases

Case	Year	Principle
Thalappalam Service Co-operative Bank v. State of Kerala	2013	"Substantially financed" means funding so large the body could hardly run without it, not a small grant. Regulation by a government Registrar alone does not make a co-operative a public authority [7]
DAV College Trust and Management Society v. Director of Public Instructions	2019	Schools, colleges and NGOs with substantial government funds are public authorities. "Substantial" need not mean more than 50%
CPIO, Supreme Court v. Subhash Chandra Agarwal	2019	The office of the Chief Justice of India is a public authority
Anjali Bhardwaj v. Union of India	15 February 2019	Appointments of Information Commissioners must be timely and transparent. The government must publish the search committee, the selection criteria and the shortlisted names, and start filling a post before it falls vacant [6]

Key instances

• Anjali Bhardwaj background: when the petition was filed, 4 Information Commissioner posts were vacant, and more than 23,500 appeals and complaints were pending [6].
• CIC in 2025:
• the CIC was short of members and for a time had no Chief;
• Raj Kumar Goyal, a retired IAS officer, took oath as Chief Information Commissioner before the President at Rashtrapati Bhavan on 15 December 2025 [4];

• eight new Information Commissioners took oath on the same day [5].

• Jan Soochna Portal (Rajasthan, 2019): a single state website showing ration, pension and MGNREGA data for each person and village. It is seen as the model of s.4 in practice.

• Bagepalli (Karnataka), from NCERT: villagers used RTI to ask about funds for a road-widening project. The question exposed the delay, and the road was then completed.

Don't confuse with

• CIC vs Election Commission: the CIC is a statutory body (created by the RTI Act). The Election Commission is a constitutional body. The 2019 amendment ended the pay parity between them.
• Complaint (s.18) vs Second appeal (s.19(3)): a complaint goes directly to the Commission, with no first appeal needed. A second appeal comes only after the first appeal, within 90 days.
• Proactive disclosure (s.4) vs RTI request (s.6): under s.4 the authority publishes information on its own. Under s.6 a citizen asks for it.
• CIC selection panel vs bodies that include the CJI: the RTI panel is the PM, the Leader of Opposition and a Union Cabinet minister. The CJI is not a member.

Prelims Hooks

• Section 3: only citizens have the right. Companies and foreigners do not.
• Time limits: 30 days normally; 48 hours for life or liberty; +5 days through an APIO; 40 days with a third party; transfer within 5 days (s.6(3)).
• Penalty (s.20): ₹250 a day, up to ₹25,000, paid by the PIO personally, not by the department.
• Section 4(1)(b): 17 categories of proactive disclosure, due within 120 days of enactment.
• RTI Rules 2019: three-year term, and the Centre fixes pay for both central and state commissioners [2].
• Case–principle pairs:
• Thalappalam (2013): test for "substantially financed";
• DAV College Trust (2019): NGOs with substantial funding are covered;
• Anjali Bhardwaj (2019): timely and transparent appointment of Information Commissioners.

Mains Points

• Independence vs executive control:
• the 2019 amendment lets the Centre fix commissioners' terms and pay by rules, so the watchdog depends on the government it must check [3];
• it also lets the Centre decide service conditions for state commissions, which hurts federalism;

• reform: put fixed terms and pay back into the Act itself, or restore parity with the Election Commission.

• Weak enforcement cancels the 30-day promise:

• vacancies, as seen in Anjali Bhardwaj (2019) and the headless CIC of 2025, leave cases pending;
• Commissions rarely impose s.20 penalties;

• reform: fill posts on time and in a transparent way, before they fall vacant [6].

• Proactive disclosure as the real fix:

• applying s.4 fully would cut RTI applications and the burden on PIOs;
• Rajasthan's Jan Soochna Portal (2019) shows how open, beneficiary-level data enables a social audit (people checking how public money was spent) and links RTI to Digital India;
• the open questions are whether political parties and sports bodies are "public authorities", and how RTI fits with privacy under s.8(1)(j) and the DPDP Act 2023.

Related concepts

• Public authority (RTI)
• Public Information Officer
• Proactive disclosure
• Jan Soochna Portal
• RTI appeals
• Right to Information (Amendment) Act 2019

Read more

• The RTI Act 2005: rights, duties and machinery