RTI Act

RTI ACT (Right To Information Act- 2005)

Q1)  From when it became operational?

It became operational from 12th October, 2005.

Q2) What is the bounden duty of the Public Authority.

A) Every public authority shall—

a) maintain all its records duly catalogued and indexed in a manner and the form which facilitates the right to information under this Act and ensure that all records that are appropriate to be computerised are, within a reasonable time and subject to availability of resources, computerised and connected through a network all over the country on different systems so that access to such records is facilitated;

b) publish within one hundred and twenty days from the enactment of this Act,—

(i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties;

(ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees;

(iii) the procedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability;

(iv) the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions;

(v) the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions;

(vi) a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control;

(vii) the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof;

(viii) a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public;

(ix) a directory of its officers and employees;

(x) the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations;

(xi) the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the particulars of all plans, proposed expenditures and reports on disbursements made;

(xii) the manner of execution of subsidy programmes, including the amounts allocated and the details of beneficiaries of such programmes;

(xiii) particulars of recipients of concessions, permits or authorisations granted by it;

(xiv) details in respect of the information, available to or held by it, reduced in an electronic form;

(xv) the particulars of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information, including the working hours of a library or reading room, if maintained for public use;

(xvi) the names, designations and other particulars of the Public Information Officers;

(xvii) such other information as may be prescribed; and thereafter update these publications every year;

Q3) Where it is applicable?

• It extends to whole of India except Jammu & Kashmir.

Q4) What is the object of the RTI Act?

• Objective of RTI Act is to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority with a view to set up a practice for giving citizen access to information under the control of Government organization.

Q5) Which organizations are covered under this RTI Act?

• The Right to Information Act (RTI Act) will cover all levels of government organization like Centre, State, district and local self governing bodies like Panchayats and Municipal bodies. It will also cover non-governmental organizations- i.e. NGOs, VOs and other private bodies- that are financed substantially with public funds provided by the Government. This means every citizen has the right to put in an application requesting information or copies of records held by these bodies and such information should be given by the concerned body.

Q6) What “Right to information” means?

• “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-

(i) Inspection of work, documents, records;

(ii) Taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;

(iii) Taking certified samples of material;

(iv) Obtaining 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.

Q7) Which are included in “Record”?

• (i) “Record” includes-

(a) Any document, manuscript and file;

(b) Any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile copy of a document;

(c) Any reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm

(Whether enlarged or not); and

(d) Any other material produced by a computer or any other device.

Q8) What does information means?

• “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.

Q9) Who can avail the opportunity of RTI Act?

• Any citizen can ask for information under this Act.

Q10) Who is the “State Public Information Officer” (SPIO) under Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate?

• Deputy Commissioner of Police (Head Quarter), Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate, Evelyn Lodge, Kumarpur, Asansol- 713304 has been designated as SPIO of Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate.

Q11) What is the requisite fees to be paid with the application?

• Rs 10/- (Ten) the requisite fees to be paid with the application under RTI Act by means of Demand Draft / Banker’s chaque / Indial Postal Order / Money Order.

Q12) How to submit a RTI application?

• Application can be submitted by hand under proper receipt or by registered post with AD/ speed post, which will act as a proof of submission of application.

Q13) What is the time limit for getting information from the concern organization?

• (I) 30days from the date of application(II)  48 hours for information concerning the life and liberty of a person

Q14) Is there any exemption from disclosure of information?

• The following facts are exempted from disclosure of information:-

(i)  if disclosure of such information  prejudicially affects the sovereignty and integrity of the country, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interest of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence,

(ii) if such information has been forbidden to be published by any court of law or tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of court,

(iii) if such information would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament or State Legislature,

(iv) If such information is involved with commercial confidence, trade secret or intellectual property and the disclosure of which would harm the competitive position of a third party,

(v) If such information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship,

(vi) If such information received in confidence from foreign govt.

(vii) Information in such a nature which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person, or information given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes,

(viii) If such information would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offender,

(ix) If such information relates to Cabinet papers including record of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers unless the material on basis of which the decision were taken have been made public and the matter is complete or over, and provided the matters do not fall within the categories of exemption mention in Section 8 of that,

(x) If such information relating to personal information, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or interest, or which would cause unwarranted invasion of the privacy of the individual, provided the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or State Legislature shall not denied to any person,

(xi) if such information in respect of an occurrence, event or matter which took place, occurred or happened more than 20 years before the date of request for information,

(xii) If such information which involves an infringement of copyright subsisting in a person other than the State.

Q15) Who is the appellate authority in Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate

• Commissioner of Police, Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate, is the Appellate Authority.

Q16) What is the time frame for submitting appeal before Appellate Authority?

• First Appeal should be made within 30 days from date of receipt of decision of SPIO and if no reply is received within 30 days then first appeal has to be filed within 30 days from the date when reply was due from SPIO.