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Right to Information

Semester 4 · 16 topics in 5 units

Past question papers for Right to Information

Unit I 3 topics

  1. Freedom of information in Sweden, the USA and the UKHow the idea of a citizen's right to see government records grew up: Sweden's press law of 1766, the American Freedom of Information Act of 1966 and its post-Watergate amendments, and the British move from official secrecy to the Freedom of Information Act 2000.6 min
  2. Right to information in India before the 2005 Act, and its place in democracyThe colonial culture of secrecy, the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan's campaign in rural Rajasthan, the State laws of 1997 to 2004, the Freedom of Information Act 2002 that never came into force, the passing of the RTI Act, and why access to information matters in a democracy.6 min
  3. Constitutional basis of the right to information and the Supreme CourtHow the Supreme Court read a right to know into Article 19(1)(a) and Article 21, from Raj Narain (1975) and S.P. Gupta (1981) through the Cricket Association of Bengal case (1995), the voters' cases of 2002 and 2003, and the electoral bonds judgment of 2024, and how the RTI Act gives that right a statutory form.7 min

Unit II 4 topics

  1. RTI Act definitions: information, record, right to information and public authorityThe key definitions in section 2 of the RTI Act, the citizen's right under section 3, the competent authority, and the test for a public authority laid down in Thalappalam Service Co-operative Bank (2013), with the cricket association problem solved.7 min
  2. Obligations of public authorities, the PIO, and how a request is made and decidedSuo motu disclosure under section 4, the designation and duties of Public Information Officers under section 5, the request under section 6, the time limits, deemed refusal and fees under section 7 and the RTI Rules 2012, and the 2023 directions in Kishan Chand Jain on proactive disclosure.7 min
  3. Exemptions from disclosure: sections 8, 9 and 10The ten exemptions in section 8(1), the public interest override in section 8(2), the twenty-year rule, copyright under section 9 and severability under section 10, with the personal information clause as substituted by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 from 13 November 2025, and the income-tax return and political leader problems solved.8 min
  4. Third party information and organisations excluded from the ActThe notice-and-hearing procedure for third party information under section 11, the intelligence and security organisations kept outside the Act by section 24 and the Second Schedule with the corruption and human rights exceptions, and the overriding effect and bar of courts in sections 22 and 23, with the bank borrower problem solved.6 min

Unit III 3 topics

  1. The Central and State Information Commissions: constitution, tenure and removalSections 12 to 17 of the RTI Act: composition, selection committee, eligibility and disqualifications of Information Commissioners; the 2019 Amendment that handed tenure and salary to Central Government rules and the three-year term under the 2019 Rules; removal by reference to the Supreme Court; and the Namit Sharma and Anjali Bhardwaj cases.6 min
  2. Powers and functions of the Information CommissionsThe complaint jurisdiction under section 18 and the civil court powers it carries, the remedial powers in section 19(8), monitoring and reporting under section 25, the difference between a complaint and an appeal as settled in Chief Information Commissioner v. State of Manipur (2011), and the 2023 direction on hybrid hearings.6 min
  3. Appeals and penalties under the RTI ActThe first appeal to the senior officer and the second appeal to the Commission under section 19 with their time limits and the burden of proof, the penalty of Rs. 250 a day up to Rs. 25,000 and disciplinary action under section 20, protection and bar of courts, and the problem of the applicant who wants compensation from the PIO.6 min

Unit IV 4 topics

  1. The Official Secrets Act, 1923The colonial secrecy statute still in force: prohibited places, spying under section 3, wrongful communication under section 5, the presumptions, the restrictions on prosecution, and how sections 8(2) and 22 of the RTI Act and the Rafale review (2019) limit it.7 min
  2. The Public Records Act, 1993 and the Public Records Rules, 1997The law on keeping, appraising, destroying and opening Central Government records: records creating agencies, the records officer and his duties, the bar on destroying pre-1892 records, the thirty-year rule of access, the Archival Advisory Board, and the 1997 Rules on appraisal at twenty-five years, five-yearly downgrading and destruction.7 min
  3. The Freedom of Information Act, 2002India's first national access law, enacted in January 2003 but never brought into force and repealed by section 31 of the RTI Act: its scheme, its exemptions and grounds of refusal, and a point-by-point comparison with the 2005 Act that explains why it was replaced.5 min
  4. The Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 and the Central Rules, 1972Appointment of a commission of inquiry under section 3, its civil court and additional powers, protection of witnesses' statements, the rights of persons whose conduct is inquired into, laying of the report and action taken, the Commissions of Inquiry (Central) Rules 1972, and Ram Krishna Dalmia (1958) on the nature of a commission.7 min

Unit V 2 topics

  1. Judicial response to the RTI Act: the leading Supreme Court decisionsThe cases every answer cites: answer books in Aditya Bandopadhyay, the judiciary in Subhash Chandra Agarwal, personal information in Girish Deshpande, co-operative societies in Thalappalam, regulators in Jayantilal Mistry, and the cases on the Commissions, with the answer-script, co-operative loan, service record and judges' medical expenses problems solved.7 min
  2. Best practices and the approach of Information Commissions in different departmentsWhat 'best practices' means under the RTI Act, the measures adopted by Governments and Commissions (online filing, proactive disclosure, hybrid hearings, training), and how the principles of the Act apply to requests to the police, revenue, public works, irrigation, the secretariat, BSNL and the Posts, banks, the Income Tax and Excise departments, and local authorities.6 min