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The law giving Indian citizens a legal right to obtain information held by public authorities, subject to specified exemptions.
The Right to Information Act, 2005 gives every Indian citizen a legally enforceable right to seek information held by or under the control of a public authority. It rests on a simple inversion of the older rule: instead of officials deciding what the public may see, disclosure is the norm and secrecy the exception, permitted only where the Act itself allows it. Every public authority must designate Public Information Officers to receive and answer requests, and must proactively publish specified categories of information without being asked. Appeals go first to a departmental appellate authority and then to the Central Information Commission or the relevant State Information Commission. The Act flows from the Supreme Court's reading of the right to information as part of the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).
Type: LawRight of access — any citizen may request information from a public authority, without having to state a reason for the request
Time limits — information must ordinarily be supplied within 30 days, and within 48 hours where it concerns the life or liberty of a person
Public Information Officers — every public authority must designate PIOs, with Assistant PIOs to receive applications
Suo motu disclosure — Section 4 requires public authorities to publish specified categories of information proactively
Exemptions — Section 8 lists the grounds on which information may be withheld, such as national security, foreign relations and personal information
Appeal structure — a first appeal to a departmental appellate authority, then a second appeal to the Central or State Information Commission
Penalties — a PIO who refuses without reasonable cause or delays information may be penalised by the Information Commission
Frequency: A standing favourite in UPSC Prelims polity and in SSC and banking general awareness papers
Article 19(1)(a)
The freedom of speech and expression, from which the Supreme Court derived the right to information
Section 4, RTI Act
Obliges public authorities to publish specified categories of information proactively, without waiting for a request
Section 8, RTI Act
Lists the exemptions from disclosure, including national security, foreign relations, commercial confidence and personal information
RTI (Amendment) Act, 2019
Moved the tenure, salary and service conditions of Information Commissioners from the statute to rules made by the Central Government
Section 44(3), Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
Amended Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, removing the proviso that allowed personal information to be disclosed where a larger public interest justified it
The process is deliberately simple, because the Act was designed for use by citizens without legal assistance. An applicant need not explain why the information is wanted, and cannot be asked to.
Step 1: The citizen files a written or electronic application with the Public Information Officer of the relevant public authority, paying a nominal fee
Step 2: The PIO must supply the information within 30 days, or within 48 hours if it concerns the life or liberty of a person
Step 3: If the PIO refuses, delays or gives incomplete information, the applicant files a first appeal with the departmental appellate authority
Step 4: If still unsatisfied, the applicant files a second appeal before the Central Information Commission or the relevant State Information Commission
Step 5: The Commission may direct disclosure and may impose a penalty on a PIO who refused without reasonable cause or delayed the response
The RTI Act changed the default setting of Indian administration. Files that were previously beyond reach — muster rolls, ration distribution records, expenditure statements, file notings — became obtainable by an ordinary citizen for a nominal fee, and much of the accountability journalism and social audit work of the past two decades has run on it. The two amendments have narrowed that opening from different directions. The 2019 amendment left the tenure and salary of Information Commissioners to be prescribed by the very government whose decisions they review, which critics argue weakens their independence. The 2023 change is more consequential in daily practice: by deleting the proviso that allowed personal information to be released where a larger public interest justified it, Section 8(1)(j) now supports blanket refusals of information about public officials — their qualifications, assets or disciplinary records — that commissions had previously ordered disclosed. Whether that is a proper correction in favour of privacy or a hollowing out of transparency is the live debate.
Enacted 2005; gives citizens a legal right to information held by public authorities
No reason need be given for an RTI application
Information within 30 days; within 48 hours where life or liberty is involved
CIC: Chief Information Commissioner plus up to ten Information Commissioners
Section 4 mandates proactive disclosure; Section 8 lists exemptions
The 2019 amendment let the Centre prescribe Information Commissioners' tenure and salary
Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act, 2023 removed the public-interest override in Section 8(1)(j)
Rooted in Article 19(1)(a)
Ordinarily within 30 days of the application. Where the information concerns the life or liberty of a person, it must be supplied within 48 hours.
No. The Act expressly provides that an applicant need not give any reason for seeking information, and cannot be required to.
Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act amended Section 8(1)(j), removing the proviso that allowed personal information to be disclosed where a larger public interest justified it.
The CIC consists of the Chief Information Commissioner and up to ten Information Commissioners.
Yes. An Information Commission may impose a penalty on a PIO who refuses an application without reasonable cause, delays the response or knowingly gives incorrect or incomplete information.