How to ask a public authority for information, what it may withhold, the timelines it must meet, and the appeals if it does not. A curated selection; not the complete text.
Provided for study purposes. Cross-check against the official source (India Code / the relevant government gazette) before citing or relying on this text — amendments and corrections may not be reflected here.
Information means 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 for the time being in force.
The right to information means the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of any public authority, and includes the right to inspect work, documents and records; to take notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records; to take certified samples of material; and to obtain 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.
Every public authority shall maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner which facilitates the right to information, and shall publish within one hundred and twenty days of the enactment the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties, the powers and duties of its officers and employees, the procedure followed in its decision-making process, the norms set for the discharge of its functions, the rules and records held by it, a statement of the categories of documents it holds, the particulars of any arrangement for consultation with the public, the directory of its officers and employees and their monthly remuneration, its budget, and the manner of execution of subsidy programmes. It shall endeavour 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.
A person who desires to obtain any information under this Act shall make a request in writing or through electronic means in English or Hindi or in the official language of the area, accompanied by the prescribed fee, to the Central or State Public Information Officer. An applicant making a request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information or any personal details except those necessary for contacting them.
The Public Information Officer 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 in Sections 8 and 9. Where the information sought concerns the life or liberty of a person, it shall be provided within forty-eight hours of the receipt of the request. Where the Officer fails to give a decision on the request within the period specified, they shall be deemed to have refused the request, and where information is not provided within the period specified it shall be provided free of charge.
There shall be no obligation to give any citizen information the disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relations with a foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence; information expressly forbidden to be published by any court or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court; information the disclosure of which would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or a State Legislature; information including commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party; information available to a person in their fiduciary relationship; information received in confidence from a foreign government; information the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person; information which would impede the process of investigation or prosecution of offenders; cabinet papers; and personal information which has no relationship to any public activity or interest. Notwithstanding these exemptions, a public authority may allow access if the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interests.
Where a Public Information Officer intends to disclose any information or record which relates to or has been supplied by a third party and has been treated as confidential by that third party, the Officer shall within five days of receipt of the request give written notice to the third party inviting them to make a submission as to whether the information should be disclosed. The third party shall be given an opportunity to make representation within ten days of the receipt of the notice, and except in the case of trade or commercial secrets protected by law, disclosure may be allowed if the public interest in disclosure outweighs in importance any possible harm or injury to the interests of the third party.
Any person who does not receive a decision within the time specified, or is aggrieved by a decision of the Public Information Officer, may within thirty days prefer a first appeal to the officer senior in rank to the Public Information Officer in the same public authority. A second appeal against that decision lies to the Central or State Information Commission within ninety days from the date on which the decision should have been made or was actually received. In any appeal proceeding, the onus to prove that a denial of a request was justified shall be on the Public Information Officer who denied the request.
Where the Information Commission is of the opinion that the Public Information Officer has, without any reasonable cause, refused to receive an application, has not furnished information within the time specified, has malafidely denied the request, has knowingly given incorrect, incomplete or misleading information, has destroyed information which was the subject of the request, or has obstructed in any manner the furnishing of information, it shall impose a penalty of two hundred and fifty rupees each day till the application is received or information is furnished, subject to a total penalty not exceeding twenty-five thousand rupees. The burden of proving that they acted reasonably and diligently shall be on the Public Information Officer.