Right to Information
At least four of the 29 information commissions in India are completely defunct, says a report of the Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), an organisation trying to hold the government accountable vis-a-vis the Right to Information Act, 2005.
https://thewire.in/government/satark-nagrik-sangathan-report-card-information-commission-rti
Jharkhand, Telangana, Mizoram and Tripura have had no information commission with the incumbents retiring. Jharkhand has been without a commission for the past three years and Tripura for two years.
Anjali Bhardwaj from the SNS, who was a key person in compiling the report, says, “A consistent behaviour of the government we have seen since 2014 is no information commissioner is ever appointed till civil society moves [the courts]. It’s only at the court’s direction that the government is forced to move.”
Amrita Johri, also of the SNS, says, “A good way to crush the citizen’s fundamental right to information is by making information commissions defunct. With no one to appeal to, an application for information gathers dust till it has no meaning left.”
by Meetu Jain
13/10/2023
With the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 receiving presidential assent, it is only one step away from being brought into force by the government. Once the amendment to the Right to Information Act, 2005, is notified, government offices around the country can deny all personal information contained in government records.
With the partial deletion of the wording in Section 8(1)(j) of the Right to Information Act, citizens requesting information will no longer be able to argue that the information has a nexus to public activity or that the disclosure is justified in the larger public interest.
Any attempt to rollback these amendments, even if the process takes a decade, has to begin with building a consensus on one core issue: that it was a mistake for the Supreme Court to declare informational privacy a fundamental right in the 2018 Puttaswamy case. It was ultimately this declaration of informational privacy as a fundamental right that provided the government with bulletproof legal cover for the amendment to Section 8(1)(j).
At the heart of the right to informational privacy is the requirement of the “informed consent” of the person whose information is to be accessed. The right to information, however, does not work if the government has to secure consent from every citizen before releasing their information under the Right to Information Act.
25/08/2023
HC notice to state home dept, Nagpur Police on plea by man summoned after RTI on RSS https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/hc-notice-to-state-home-dept-nagpur-police-on-plea-by-man-summoned-after-rti-on-rss-8380858/ Omkar Gokhale January 14, 2023 The bench was hearing the plea moved by Lalan Kishor Singh seeking to quash the notice issued to him on December 26, 2021 by the assistant police inspector (API), Traffic.RTI He ..was summoned by the police to record his statement after he filed a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act related to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)...
Claiming that he was a daily wager, Singh said in his plea, “If security is being provided to NGO from the revenue collected from the public… it is the constitutional right of every citizen to seek information and raise question.” He added that the Nagpur Police was time and again pressurising him to appear before it, affecting his daily work...The plea added that the API (Traffic) is not a competent authority to hold any inquiry against Singh. It further said that initiating inquiry against Singh is unlawful and was being done to curb his fundamental rights.
RTI Act Authentic Interpretation of the Statute
by Shailesh Gandhi & Pralhad Kachare
in Hindi:
https://satyamevajayate.info/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/RTI-ADHINIYAM-PRAMANIK-VYAKHYA.pdf
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
-Wither Transparency ?
Shailesh Gandhi, Former Central Information Commissioner
https://satyamevajayate.info/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/RTI-presentation.pdf
Proforma for RTI application
Format of application for obtaining information under the Right To Information Act, 2005
To: RTO officer, Name of Dept.
(1) Full name of the applicant:
(2) Address:
(3) Particulars of information required, -
(i) Subject matter of information:
(ii) The period to which the information relates
(iii) Description of the information required:
give Background
I want.. a Xerox copy of
(iv) Whether information is required by post or in person: ( enclosed postage)
(v) In case by post (Ordinary, Registered or Speed): By Speed post.
(vi) Purpose for which the information is required.:To understand the logic of police action in this case.
(4) Whether the applicant is below poverty line: No.
(if yes, attach the photocopy of the proof thereof.)
Signature of the applicant.
Place :
Date :
AAMNE - SAMNE WITH P.P .KAPOOR RTI ACTIVIST Oct 11, 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKxNTIa0gbA