Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey - Federation of ...

Procedural Guarantees
Requests shall, pursuant to section 6, be made in writing or through electronic means in English, Hindi
or the local offi cial language to the appropriate information offi cer (either central or state). Where a
request cannot be made in writing for any reason, presumably including illiteracy, the information offi cer
shall render all reasonable assistance to the applicant to reduce it to writing. Pursuant to section 5(3)
of the Law, information offi cers are generally required to render ‘reasonable assistance’ to applicants.
Information offi cers are also required to provide assistance to the ‘sensorily disabled’ to enable them to
access information, including by inspection (sections 7(4)-(6)). No reasons are required to be given for a
request and an innovative supporting rule provides that no personal details may be demanded other than
those required for purposes of contacting the applicant.
A response must be provided to a request as soon as possible and in any case within thirty days, although
actual provision of the information may be conditional upon payment of a fee. Where the information
concerns the life or liberty of a person, a response must be provided within 48 hours. A failure to respond
within these timelines is a deemed refusal of the request (sections 7(1) and (2)). The inclusion of a
shorter timeline for information concerning life or liberty is a positive measure found in only a few right to
information laws.
Where a request concerns information which is either held by another public body or which more closely
concerns the work of that body, the information offi cer shall transfer the request to that body and inform
the applicant immediately (section 6(3)). Where an information offi cer intends to disclose information
which relates to or has been provided by a third party and treated as confi dential by that third party, he or
she shall, within fi ve days of receipt of the request, given written notice of the intent to disclose to the third
party, along with an opportunity to provide a representation on the matter within 10 days. The timelines
established in section 7 do not apply in such cases and, instead, a response must be provided within 40
days (sections 7(7) and 11).
Where a request is accepted, the applicant shall be informed about any fee to be levied, along with the
calculations upon which it is based, his or her right to challenge the assessed fee and the details of how
to do this (section 7(3)). Where a request has been rejected, the applicant must be informed about the
reasons for the rejection and how to lodge an appeal against that decision (section 7(8)). Interestingly,
where access has been granted to only part of a record, far more detailed notice is required to be given
regarding that part of the request which has been refused, including not only the reasons for the decision,
but also any fi ndings on material questions of fact, and the name and designation of the person who made
the disclosure decision (section 10(2)).
Information should normally be provided in the form specifi ed by the applicant, unless this would
disproportionately divert the resources of the public body or be detrimental to the preservation or safety of
the record (section 7(9)). Section 2(j) specifi es a number of forms of access, including directly inspecting
work or records, taking notes or certifi ed copies, taking certifi ed samples and obtaining information in
other recorded forms, including electronically or through a printout. The inclusion of a right to inspect
works and to take certifi ed samples is a particular innovation of the Indian RTI Law, motivated at least in
part by a desire to address situations where substandard work or materials have been employed in public
works projects.
Access may be made conditional upon the payment of a fee, including for information provided in electronic
format, provided that the fee shall be ‘reasonable’. No fee may be levied on those below the poverty line. A
progressive rule which should help to ensure timely provision of information is that no fee may be charged
where a public body fails to respect the established timelines. The government may make regulations
concerning the fee to be charged (section 27(2)(b)). Such regulations have been made at the central and
all state levels, as well as by some courts. The central rules provide for an application fee for requests of
Rs. 10 (approximately USD0.25), Rs. 2 (USD0.05) for each page of A4 or letter size photocopying, the actual
cost of samples or models, and Rs. 50 for a diskette. The fi rst hour of inspection shall be free and a fee of
Rs. 5 shall be charged for each subsequent hour. 181
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