RIGHT TO INFORMATION-A CASE STUDY

7/31/2019 RIGHT TO INFORMATION-A CASE STUDY

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PROJECT REPORT

ON

RIGHT TO INFORMATION-A CASE STUDY

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

2010-13

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

SUBMITTED BY:


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MAIMS LOGO

Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management Studies

Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi

PSP Area, Plot No. 1, Sector 22, Rohini Delhi 110086


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STUDENT DECLARATION

CERTIFICATE FROM GUIDE

CERTIFICATE FROM ORGANISATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CHAPTER SCHEME

I INTRODUCTION

II RESEARCH DESIGN

1.1 PURPOE OF THE STUDY1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY1.3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY1.4 LIMITATION

III FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

IV SUGGESTIONS

V CONCLUSION

VI BIBLIOGRAPHY

VII EVALUATION ATTENDANCE SHEET

VIII SCHEDULE FOR PROJECTCOMPLETION


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STUDENT UNDERTAKING

This is to certify that I have completed the Project titled RIGHT TO

INFORMATION-A CASE STUDY in

MAHARAJA AGRASEN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES under the

guidance of MRS. SANGEETA MALIK in partial fulfillment of the requirement for

the award of degree of Bachelor of Business Administration at Maharaja Agrasen

Institute of Management Studies, Delhi. This is an original piece of work & I have

not submitted it earlier elsewhere.

Name of the Student


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CERTIFICATE

(In institutes letter head)

This is to certify that the project titled RIGHT TO INFORMATION-A CASE STUDY

is an academic work done by submitted in the

partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Bachelor Of

Business Administration from Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Management

Studies, Delhi, under my guidance & direction. To the best of my knowledge and

belief the data & information presented by him/her in the project has not been

submitted earlier.

Name of the Faculty Guide

MRS. SANGEETA MALIK


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I INTRODUCTION

Background

In order to promote, transparency and accountability in administration,

Parliament passed Right to Information Bill, 2004 on 15th June, 2005, The Right

to Information Act was notified in the Gazette of India on 21st June, 2005. The

Right to Information Act has become fully operational from 12th October, 2005.

so as to enable a citizen of India to secure access to information under the control

of Public Authorities.

Why right to information?

We all pay taxes. Even a beggar on the street pays sales tax when he buys

anything from the market. This money belongs to us. But where does thismoney go? Why are there no medicines in the hospitals? Why are peopledying of starvation? Why are the roads in such pathetic conditions? Whyare the taps dry? Now we have a right to question governments. TheParliament of India has passed Right to Information Laws, which empowercitizens to question the government, inspect their files, and take copies ofgovernment documents and also to inspect government works.

Overview of right to information


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ANDWHEREAS revelation of information in actual practice is likely to conflict with

other public interests including efficient operations of the Governments, optimum

use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive

information;

ANDWHEREAS it is necessary to harmonies these conflicting interests while

preserving the paramountcy of the democratic ideal;

NOW,THEREFORE, it is expedient to provide for furnishing certain information to

citizens who desire to have it.


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RESEARCH DESIGN

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Purpose of the study is to know the application of right to information

Research objectives of the study

Research methodology of the study

III DATA ANALYSIS

Object of the Right to Information Act


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The basic object of the Right to Information Act is to empower the citizens,

promote transparency and accountability in the working of the Government,

contain corruption, and make our democracy work for the people in real

sense. An informed citizenry will be better equipped to keep necessary vigil

on the instruments of government and make the government moreaccountable to the governed. The Act has created a practical regime through

which the citizens of the country may have access to information under the

control of public authorities.

What is Information

Information is any material in any form. It includes records, documents,

memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks,

contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any

electronic form. It also includes information relating to any private bodywhich can be accessed by the public authority under any law for the time

being in force.

Right to Information under the Act

1. A citizen has a right to seek such information from a public authority whichis held by the public authority or which is held under its control. This right

includes inspection of work, documents and records; taking notes, extracts

or certified copied of documents or records; taking certified samples of

material held by the public authority or held under the control of the public

authority.

2. The public authority under the RIT Act is not supposed to createinformation; or to interpret information; or to solve the problems raised by

the applicants; or to furnish replies to hypothetical questions. Only such

information can be had under the Act which already exists with the public

authority.

3. A citizen has a right to obtain information in the form of diskettes, floppies,tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through print-out

provided information is already stored in a computer or in any other device

from which the information may be transferred to diskettes.

4. The information to the applicant shall ordinarily be provided in the form inwhich it is sought. However, if the supply of information sought in a

particular form would disproportionately divert the resources of the public


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authority or may cause harm to the safety or preservation of the records,

supply of information in that form may be denied.

5. The Act gives the right to information only to the citizens of India. It doesnot make provision for giving information to Corporations, Associations,

Companies etc. which are legal entities/persons, but not citizens. However,if an application is made by an employee or office-bearer of any

Corporation, Association, Company, NOG etc. who is also a citizen of India,

information shall be supplied to him/her, provided the applicant given

his/her full name. In such cases, it will be presumed that a citizen has

sought information at the address of the Corporation etc.

Exemptions from Disclosure

The right to seek information from a public authority is not absolute. Sections

8 and 9 of the Act enumerate the categories of information which are exemptfrom disclosure. At the same time Schedule II of the Act contains the names of

the Intelligence and Security Organizations which are exempt from the

purview of the Act. The exemption of the organization, however, does not

cover supply of information relating to allegations of corruption and human

rights violations.

The applicants should abstain from seeking information which is exempt

under Section 8 and 9 and also from the organizations included in the Second

Schedule except information relating to allegations of corruption and humanright violations.

The List of 22 exempted organizations is given below:

Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Ministry of Finance

Central Economic Intelligence Bureau, Ministry of Finance

Directorate of Enforcement, Ministry of Finance

Narcotics Control Bureau

Aviation Research Centre

Special Frontier Force

Border Security Force, Ministry of Home Affairs

Central Reserve Police Force, Ministry of Home Affairs

Indo-Tibetan Border Police, Ministry of Home Affairs

Central Industrial Security Force, Ministry of Home Affairs


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A citizen, who desires to obtain any information under the Act, should make

an application to the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the

concerned public authority in writing in English or Hindi or in the official

language of the area in which the application is made. The applicant can send

the application by post or through electronic means or can deliver itpersonally in the office of the public authority. The application can also be

sent through a Central Assistant Public Information Officer appointed by the

Department of Post at sub-divisional level or other sub-district level.

Fee for Seeking Information

The applicant, along with the application, should send a demand draft or a

bankers cheque or an Indian Postal Order of Rs10/- (Rupees ten), payable to

the Accounts Office of the public authority as fee prescribed for seeking

information. The payment of fee can also be made by way of cash to theAccount Officer of the Public authority or to the Central Assistant Public

Information Officer against proper receipt.

The applicant may also be required to pay further fee towards the cost of

providing the information, details of which shall be intimated to the applicant

by the CPIO as prescribed by the Right Information (Regulation of Fee and

Cost) Rules, 2005. Rates of fee as prescribed in the Rules are given below:

a. rupees two (Rs.2/-) for each page (in A-4 or A-3 size paper) created orcopied;

b. actual charge or cost price of a copy in large size paper;

c. actual cost or price for samples or models;

d. for inspection of records, no fee for the first hour; and a fee of rupees five(Rs.5/-) for each subsequent hour (or fraction thereof);

e. for information provided in diskette or floppy rupees fifty (Rs.50/-) perdiskette or floppy; and

f. for information provided in printed form at the price fixed for such

publication or rupees two per page of photocopy for extracts from thepublication.

If the applicant belongs to below poverty line (BPL) category, he is not

required to pay any fee. However, he should submit a proof in support of his

claim to belong to the below poverty line. The application not accompanied by

the prescribed fee of Rs.10/- or proof of the applicants belonging to below


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poverty line, as the case may be, shall not be a valid application under the Act

and therefore, does not entitle the applicant to get information.

Format of Application

There is no prescribed form of application for seeking information. theapplication can be made or plain paper. The application should, however, have

the name and complete postal address of the applicant. Even in cases where

the information is sought electronically, the application should contain name

and postal address of the applicant.

The information seeker is not required to give reasons for seeking

information.

Time Period for Supply of Information

1. The CPIO should supply the information within thirty days of the receipt ofthe request. Where the information sought for concerns the life or liberty of

a person, the same should be provided within forty-eight hours of the

receipt of the request.

2. Every Public authority is required to designate an officer at each sub-divisional level or other sub-district level as a Central Assistant Public

Information Officer (CPAIO) to receive the applications or appeals under

the Act for forwarding the same to the Central Public Information Officer or

the first Appellate Authority or the Central Information Commission. If

request for information is received through the CAPIO, the information

may be provided within 35 days or receipt of application by the CAPIO in

normal course and 38 hours plus 5 days in case the information sought

concerns the life or liberty of person.

3. In case of an application transferred from one public authority to anotherpublic authority, as referred to in para 21, reply should be provided by the

concerned public authority within 30 days of the receipt of the application

by that public authority in normal course and within 38 hours in case the

information sought concerns the life or liberty of a person.

4. The Central Public Information Officers of the intelligence and securityorganizations specified in the Second Schedule of the Act may receive

applications seeking information pertaining to allegations of corruption

and human right violations. Information in respect of allegations of

violation of human rights, which is provided only after the approval of the


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Central Information Commission, should be provided within forty-five days

from the date of the receipt of request. Time limit prescribed for supplying

information in regard to allegations of corruption is the same as in other

cases.

5. Where the applicant is asked to pay additional fee, the period interveningbetween the dispatch of the intimation about payment of fee and the

payment of fee by the applicant shall be excluded for the purpose of

calculation the period of reply. The following table shows the maximum

time which may be taken to dispose of the application in different

situations:

me limit for disposing of applications

Situation Time limit for dispos

pply of information in normal course. 30 days

pply of information if it concerns the life or liberty of

erson

38 hours

pply of information if the application is received

ough CAPIO.

05 days shall be added to the time period in

pply of information if application/request is received

er transfer from another public authority:

In normal course

In case the information concerns the life or liberty of

a person.

a. Within 30 days of the receipt of the appauthority.

b. Within 38 hours of receipt of the applic

pply of information of information by organizations

cified in the Second Schedule:

If information relates to allegations of human rights.

In case information relates to allegations ofcorruption.

a. 35 days from the receipt of application.

b. Within 30 days of the receipt of applica

pply of information if it relates to third party and the

rd party has treated it as confidential.

Should be provided after following the pro

guidelines.

pply of information where the applicant is asked to

y additional fee.

The period intervening between informing

payment of fee by the applicant shall be ex


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If the CPIO fails to give decision on the request for information within the

prescribed period, the Central Public Information Officer shall be deemed to

have refused the request. It is pertinent to note that if a public authority fails

to comply with the specified time limit, the information to the concerned

applicant would have to be provided free of charge.

First Appeal

If an applicant is not supplied information within the prescribed time thirty

days or 48 hours, as the case may be, is not satisfied with the information

furnished to him, he may prefer an appeal to the first appellate authority whois an officer senior in rank to the CPIO. Such an appeal should be filed within a

period or thirty days from the date on which the limit of 30 days of supply of

information is expired or from the data on which the information or decision

of the CPIO is received.

The appellate authority of the public authority shall dispose of the appeal

within a period of thirty days or in exceptional cases with 45 days of the

receipt of the appeal.

Second Appeal

If the appellate authority fails to pass an order on the appeal within the

prescribed period or if the appellant is not satisfied with the order of the first

appellate authority, he may prefer a second appeal with the Central

Informational Commission within ninety days from the date on which the

decision should have been made by the first appellate authority or was

actually received by the appellant. The appeal made to the Central

Informational Commission should contain the following information:-

i. Name and address of the appellant;

ii. Name and address of the Central Public Information Officer against thedecision of whom the appeal is preferred;

iii. Particulars of the order including number, if any, against which the appealis preferred;

iv. Brief facts leading to the appeal;


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v. If the appeal is preferred against deemed refusal, particulars of theapplication including number and date and name and address of the

Central Public Information Officer to whom the application was made;

Prayer or relief sought;

vi. Grounds for prayer or relief;vii. Verification by the appellant; and

viii. Any other information, which the Commission may deem necessary fordeciding the appeal.

The appeal made to the Central Informational Commission should be

accompanied by the following documents:

i. Self-attested copies of the order or documents against which appeal is

made;ii. Copies of the documents relied upon by the appellant and referred to in the

appeal; and

iii. An index of the documents referred to in the appeal.

Complaints

If any person is unable to submit a request to a Central Public information

Officer either by reason that such an officer has not been appointed by the

concerned public authority; or the Central Assistant Central Public

information Officer has refused to accept his or her application or appeal for

forwarding the same to the Central Public information Officer or the appellate

authority, as the case may be; or he has been refused access to any

information requested by him under the RTI Act; or he has not been given a

response to a request for information within the time limit specified in the

Act; or he has been required to pay an amount of fee which he considers

unreasonable; or he believes that he has been given incomplete, misleading or

false information, he can make a complaint to the Central information

Commission.

Imposition of Penalty

As pointed out above, an applicant under the Act has a right to appeal to the

Central Information Commission and also to make complaint to the

Commission. Where the Central Information Commission at the time of

deciding any complaint or appeal is of the opinion that the Central Public


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Information Officer has without any reasonable cause, refused to receive an

application for information or has not furnished information within the time

specified or malafidely denied the request for information or knowingly given

incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or destroyed information

which was the subject of the request or obstructed in any manner infurnishing the information, it shall impose a penalty of two hundred and fifty

rupees each day till application is received or information is furnished subject

to the condition that the total amount of such penalty shall not exceed twenty-

five thousand rupees. The Central Public Information Officer shall, however,

be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before any penalty is

imposed on him. The burden of proving that he acted reasonable and

diligently and in case of denial of a request that such denial was justified shall

be on the Central Public Information Officer.

CASE STUDIES

Construction of Street is possible with the magic of RTI Act.

Submitted by pardeep rapria

I am a resident of Rishi Nagar,Kaithal(Haryana).My street was lying in a

ruined condition due to political reasons because resident of my street did not

the M.C. in the elections of Municipal Council. Many times I requested the

present to construct my street and drew her attention towards the fact that

other street has already been constructed, but all in vain. On 24.11.2006 I

went to the office of Municipal Council with a RTI Application and asked

following questions:- 1.What are the reasons that my street has not been

constructed, when adjacent streets has already been constructed.2.Give me

the reasons of such a long delay in constructing the street.3Give me the name

and designation of the officer who is responsible for causing delay in the

construction of street.4.Whether any plan has been sanctioned for the

construction of this street. In this regard let me know the estimated value ofthe construction of the street. On seeing my application the officers of the

Municipal Council said,: This is OK by our brotherhood with you is also

somethig,you street will be constructed without filing this RTI Application.

But I submitted my application. Surprisingly within a week officers and a

contractor visited my house and said, Everything will be done according to

your wish. And now the construction of street is almost complete. This magic


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is possible only with the use of RTI Act. Pardeep Rapria Rishi

Nagar,Kaithal(Haryana) LL.B,English Honours Mob.N.-09896040307

Anomaly in Recruitment Exercise DELHI

Submitted by SUNIL BAGORIA

In Year Dec '2000, Airports Authority of India advertised a recruitment notice

in Employment Newspaper for the post of Sr. Superintendent (Electronics) in

pay scale of Rs. 3450-6100(pre-revised).

Accordingly Recruitment Exercise was executed, and written & interview was

conducted for this post.

At the time of interview all candidates were informed by department the pay

scale is due for revision in AAI, hence successful candidates will be appointedon revised designation & scale of pay decided by management for this

recruitment exercise.

After completion of this recruitment exercise selected candidates were offered

appointment for the post of Sr. Assistant (E). There was no indication for pay

scale in appointment offer, it was only indicated as * and it is likely to be

revised to Rs. 6300-12060.

On asking, the CHQ informed to candidates, that there is no change in grade of

post & scale of pay. On faith on AAI, Candidate joined on offered post. At the

time of Joining, Candidates were offered course schedule for Sr.Superintendent (E) for Ab-initio course.

After one month of joining, wage revision order was issued, and it was

shocking to us, that by mischief, AAI appoint us on 3 grade lower posts.

In this regards all affected candidates submitted their grievance, but nobody

take our representation seriously.

Effect of RTI Act05: -

In 2007/08 we use RTI Act'05, and asked details regarding this recruitment

exercise.

We ask for providing all documents/record/correspondence/noting fileissued during the period from interview to issuing appointment offer.

The Information provided to me revealed some facts like,

1. Board of Selection Committee declared result for selection for theadvertised post of Sr. Superintendent (E).


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2. ED (P&A) approved list of candidate for appointment on advertisedpost.

3. Member (P&A) - the competed appointing authority gives his approvalon list.

4. HR Cell issued instruction to personal section for issuing appointmentoffer for the post Sr. Superintendent (E).5. Concern Directorate & Tainting Cell intimated to personal section for

competition of recruitment process and date for Ab-initio course for the

advertised post of Sr. Superintendent (E).

6. But by the negligence/intension of personnel section, they issuedappointment offer for 3 grade lower post of Sr.Assistant (E).

Present status:-

Some information is still due for sought i.e. name of person who take decision

for changing in the grade of post for appointment, etc.After hearing CIC Prof. M.M.Ansari had given direction to CPIO for providing

other requested information, and give instruction to CPIO, AAI to process the

case for rectification of anomaly in recruitment exercise.

Right to Information Act, 2005 is a revolutionary law - use it

Submitted by KAMAL ANAND

I, Kamal Anand working for association called People For Transparency' at

Sangrur wanted to inspected master plan & other documents in the office of

District Town Planner Sangrur. Hence I had given a call to the office of District

Town Planner' telling that I wanted to inspect such & such documents under

The Right to Information Act'. The concerned officer had told me that I could

come at any time. I went to the office of District Town Planner & presented my

application for the inspection of the records & had told them that I was

entitled to inspect the records maintained by them. The concerned officer told

me that I can inspect any document I want to inspect under The Right toInformation Act 2005 or otherwise, even without submitting my application

under the Act. Because they know that under the act I am legally entitled to

inspect records. They had offered me cup of tea and dealt with me in very

cordial manner. I want to convey through this story that culture is changing.

Some bureaucrats understand that public has right to information about the

working of their departments. People should make maximum use of The


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Right to Information Act', to create & maintain this culture. The preamble of

the Act clearly says that information will be given to the person, who desires

to have it. So have desire for information and call for information as much as

you can. Contribute by playing active role in the promotion of The Right to

Information Act'. There are many failures faced by us when we go to the otheroffices in Sangrur area, where the officer are not so co-operative. They even

refuse to receive our application under the Act. One such office is the office ofCivil Surgeon Sangrur', where Addl. Civil Surgeon Sangrur' had refused to

receive the application under RTI. Having expert knowledge about The Right

to Information Act', we stressed that our application should be received. It

was received by the Civil Surgeon Sangrur', who is senior to the PIO in the

same department. The Right to Information Act 2005 is a revolutionary law.

So please make use of it. Don't think about failure, but only about the success.

Kamal Amanda/o People for Transparency Telephone Exchange Road Near

Sank


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IV SUGGESTIONS

V CONCLUSION AND LIMITATIONS

VI BIBLIOGRAPHY


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Word or list of the words referred in a text or consulted by you for writing report.

It should be arranged in alphabetical order by name of the authors.

For books

Name of the author (last name first) Title of the book, Edition, year of publication,

No of Vol. (if any) Name and place of publisher.

Example:

Kothari, C.R. Research methodology, 3rd

edition, 1997, Vikas Publishing House Pvt.

Ltd, New Delhi.

For Research Papers, Published articles, Magazines, Periodicals, Journals,

Newspaper etc.

Name of the author(last name first), Title of the article, (in quotation mark) Name

of the Journals/ Periodicals/ Magazines etc in italics, Volume number, year, Page

numbers.

Example: Wortman,Maxs (Jr.) Entrepreneurship : An Integrating Typology and

Evaluation of the Empirical Research in the field, Journal of Management,Vol.13(2), 1967,pp 259-279.

Online published material on World Wide Web (Alphabetically arranged

Webliography)

Name of the Website, Date and time of referring the Website, Name of the

Author, Title/Topic


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VII EVALUATION ATTENDANCE SHEET

MAHARAJA AGRASEN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

ATTENDANCE FOR PROJECT REPORT

Name of the student :

Class :

Roll No. :

Name of the Supervisor :

S.No. Date Time Progress

Report

Signature

of the

student

Signature

of

Supervisor

1

2


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3

4

5

6

7

8

9


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10

*Minimum (8out of 10) 80% attendance compulsory.

Coordinator

VIII SCHEDULE FOR PROJECT COMPLETION

S.No. Date Activities to be Completed

1

10th

May 2009

Initial discussions and finalization of title

2

14th

August

2009

Finalization of chapter scheme

3 As Per Project

Guide

Instructions

Ch-1 Introduction

4 Ch-2

5 Ch-3

6 Ch-4


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7

11th

September

2009

Final Draft

8

23rd

September

Approved draft will be submitted and will go

for binding

9

30th

september

Final submission of report after 30th

no report

will be accepted

RIGHT TO INFORMATION-A CASE STUDY

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