Right to information act and its Amendments (1)

1. Right to information act and its Amendments For a legal professional, it is necessary to have access to information in order to handle a lawsuit or any case concerning a government or public authority. For this, the most basic right that the government of India have giventoallitscitizensthe *Righttoinformation*isveryuseful. Documents acquired through the right to information are taken as strong evidence.Also,thisinformationalsohelpsthemtoprovidevaluable services to their client. Let’s first understand what is Right to information is, why it was enacted, its objectives, amendment and most importantly timeperiod in which wecan get information. RighttoInformationAct,2005: Right to information commonly known as RTI is enshrined under Article 19(1)(A)oftheIndianconstitution, which states that every citizen has the freedom of speech and expression. First, when a bill was introduced in the parliament regarding the freedom of information to the public in 1997, which become an act named the Freedom of Information act in 2002. But due to some reasons, it was not notified. After this, to ensure greater more effective access to information, the government wanted to make this act more progressive, participatory and significant. With the suggestion of the National Advisory Council, there were certain changes intheexistingactwhichensuresmootherandbetteraccessto information. “AnActtoprovideforsettingoutthepracticalregimeofrightto information for citizens to secure access to information under the control ofpublicauthorities,inordertopromotetransparencyandaccountability

2. intheworkingofevery public authority, the constitution of a Central InformationCommissionandStateInformationCommissionsandfor mattersconnected therewith orincidental thereto.” Itissaidthatgoodgovernancehasfourbasiccomponentsi.e, transparency,accountability,predictability,andparticipation.Thusthe RTIplaysanimportantroleingoodgovernance,asitkeeps transparencybetweenthegovernmentandcitizensandalsokeeps accountabilityinthefunctioningofgovernment.Forknowingthe complete history behind the introduction of RTI, many learners opt for onlinelawcertification courses,offered by legallearningplatforms.

3. LibertyincludedintheRighttoinformation: • The following are the rights which citizens can get under the right to information; • Righttoinspectworks,documents,andrecords. • Righttotakeacertifiedsampleofthematerial • Righttoobtaininformationintheformofprintouts. • Righttotakenotes,extractinformationorcertifiedcopiesof documentsand records. • This right can help a lot, especially in the legal profession the documents or information accessed through RTI is completely authentic and can be usedas evidence. • ObjectiveofRTI: • The primary and topmost goal of the Right to information act was to empowerthe citizens. Being a citizen of a democratic country, every individualhastherighttoknowinformationaboutwhatishappeningin thecountry,parliamentandhow the representatives, chosen by them are working. Topromote transparency and accountability in the working of the government. This also helps in solving the problem of Corruption, as people are free to ask for documents, records, press releases, and surveyreportsinformofdata.Thismakesdemocracyworksinareal andsystematic way. • ImportanceofRighttoInformationAct,2002: • TheSupremecourtofIndiaoncesaidthatthePeoplearethemaster and the master has a right to know how the government, meant to serve them,isfunctioning.That’s whyRTIholdssuchimportanceandis considered a fundamental right. This act also supports the freedom of expression and speech as, without complete information, a valid opinion orexpressioncannotbemade.RTIactsas atooltofightagainst corruption, and examine if the government representatives are meeting theirexpectationsornot.Thislawempowerscitizenstoaskfor informationrelatedtoallprojectsororganizationswhicharebeing fundedby the government.

4. AmendmentinRTIactin2019: ThroughRTIAmendmentAct,2019,therewerecertainchangesin section 13, section 16 and section 27 in the previous act. The changes wereinaccordtoamendthestatus,salaryandtenureofCentral InformationCommissioners(CICs)andStateInformation Commissioners. Thus, this amendment seeks to empower the centre to decidetenure,salary,allowancesandother terms of services of the informationcommissionary. ThisAmendmentwashighlycriticised and was even called the “RTI elimination Bill” and a threat to independence. This amendment is said to bean attack on accountability and transparency of the government’s accountprovided by the RTI act, ExceptionsofRTI: There is certain information that does not come under the RTI and the publiccan’tgetaccessto them, some exceptions are given in the RTI act, 2005 such as; any information, whose copyright is not owned by the state,informationthatisreceivedinconfidencefrom aforeign government, information that can endanger a person’s life or information that comes in way of law enforcement. For knowing all the exceptions of theRighttoinformationact,learnerschoosefreeonlinelaw certification courses, as it is necessary to learn all this for applying for theinformation in RTI. TimePeriodforgettinginformation: If information asked concerns the life or liberty of a person, then it must be delivered within 48 hours. But in general cases, the information asked bytheapplicantmustbeshallbesuppliedwithin30daysfromtheday the application was received by the public authority. If the request is sent to a different public authority then the information will be delayed for 5 daysin both cases. Conclusion: Ademocraticcountryneeds awell-informedpublic,to ensure it RTI plays avitalroleinthis.Also,throughthisRTI, the public authority comesunderthescrutinyofthepublic,andcitizenshavetherightto

5. know the process of government offices. This act has converted India from a defective democracy to a participatory one. Through this RTI act, many government scandals have been brought to light and in front of the public. For law aspirants this act, not just to handle a lawsuit or a legal procedure of an individual but also for themselves, is very important. Many online legal certification courseare based on such topics to ensure that law aspirants know the complete procedure taken under the actof RTI.