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| Bare
acts |
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| The
Freedom Of Information Bill, 2000 |
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A
bill to provide for freedom to every citizen to
secure access to information under the control
of public authorities, consistent with public
interest, in order to promote openness, transparency
and accountability in administration and in relation
to matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Be it enacted by Parliament in the 51st year of
the Republic of India as follows:
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Chapter
I
Preliminary |
- Short title,
extent and commencement -
(1) This act may be called the Freedom of Information
Act, 2000.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except
the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as
the central government may, by notification
in the official gazette, appoint.
- Definitions -
In this act, unless the context otherwise requires
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(a) 'Appropriate government' means in relation
to a public authority established, constituted,
owned, substantially financed by funds provided
directly or indirectly or controlled -
(i) by the central government, the central government;
(ii) by the state government, the state government;
(b) 'Competent authority' means -
(i) the speaker in the case of the House
of the People or the Legislative Assembly and
the chairman in the case of the Council of States
or the Legislative Council;
(ii) the chief justice of India in the case
of the supreme court;
(iii) the chief justice of the high court in
the case of a high court;
(iv) the President or the governor, as the case
may be, in case of other authorities created
by or under the constitution;
(c) 'Freedom of information' means the right
to obtain information from any public authority
by means of -
(i) inspection, taking of extracts and
notes;
(ii) certified copies of any records of
such public authority;
(iii) diskettes, floppies or in any other electronic
mode or through print-outs where such information
is stored in a computer or in any other device;
(d) 'Information' means any material in any
form relating to the administration, operations
or decisions of a public authority;
(e) 'Prescribed means prescribed by rules made
under this act by the appropriate government
or the competent authority, as the case may
be;
(f) 'Public authority' means any authority or
body established or constituted -
(i) by or under the constitution;
(ii) by any law made by the appropriate government,
and includes any other body owned, controlled
or substantially financed by funds provided
directly or indirectly by the appropriate government;
(g) 'Public information officer' means the public
information officer appointed under sub-section
(1) of section 5;
(h) 'Record' includes -
(i) any document, manuscript and file;
(ii) any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile
copy of a document;
(iii) any reproduction of image or images
embodied in such microfilm (whether enlarged
or not); and
(iv) any other material produced by a computer
or by any other device;
(i) 'third party' means a person other than
the person making a request for information
and includes a public authority.
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Chapter
II
Freedom of information and obligations of public
authorities
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3.
Freedom of information - subject to the provisions
of this act, all citizens shall have freedom of
information. |
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4.
Obligations on public authorities - Every public
authority shall - |
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(a)
maintain all its records, in such manner and form
as is consistent with its operational requirements
duly catalogued and indexed; |
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(b)
publish at such intervals as may be prescribed by
the appropriate government or competent authority
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(i)
the particulars of its organisation, functions and
duties;
(ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees
and the procedure followed by them in the decision-making
process;
(iii) the norms set by the public authority for
the discharge of its functions;
(iv) rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and
other categories of records under its control used
by its employees for discharging its functions;
(v) the details of facilities available to citizens
for obtaining information; and
(vi) the name, designation and other particulars
of the public information officer. |
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(c)
publish all relevant facts concerning important
decisions and policies that affect the public while
announcing such decisions and policies;
(d) give reasons for its decisions, whether administrative
or quasi-judicial to those affected by such decisions;
(e) before initiating any project, publish or communicate
to the public generally or to the persons affected
or likely to be affected by the project in particular,
the facts available to it or to which it has reasonable
access which in its opinion should be known to them
in the best interests of maintenance of democratic
principles. |
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5.
Appointment of public information officers - |
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(1)
Every public authority shall for the purposes of
this act, appoint one or more officers as public
information officers.
(2) Every public information officer shall deal
with requests for information and shall render reasonable
assistance to any person seeking such information.
(3) The public information officer may seek the
assistance of any other officer as he considers
necessary for the proper discharge of his duties.
(4) Any officer whose assistance has been sought
under sub-section (3), shall render all assistance
to the public information officer seeking his assistance. |
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6.
Request for obtaining information - A person desirous
of obtaining information shall make a request
in writing or through electronic means, to the
concerned public information officer specifying
the particulars of the information sought by him:
Provided that where such request cannot be made
in writing, the public information officer shall
render all reasonable assistance to the person
making the request orally to reduce it in writing.
7. Disposal of requests -
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(1)
On receipt of a request under section 6, the public
information officer shall, as expeditiously as possible,
and in any case within 30 days of the receipt of
the request, either provide the information requested
on payment of such fee as may be prescribed or reject
the request for any of the reasons specified in
sections 8 and 9:
Provided that where it is decided to provide the
information on payment of any further fee representing
the cost of providing the information, he shall
send an intimation to the person making the request,
giving the details of the fees determined by him,
requesting him to deposit the fees and the period
intervening between the despatch of the said intimation
and payment of fees shall be excluded for the purpose
of calculating the period of 30 days referred to
above.
(2) Before taking any decision under section (1),
the public information officer shall take into consideration
the representation made by a third party under section
11.
(3) Where a request is rejected under sub-section
(2), the public information officer shall communicate
to the person making request - |
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(i)
the reasons for such rejection;
(ii) the period within which an appeal against such
rejections may be preferred;
(iii) the particulars of the appellate authority. |
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(4)
Information shall ordinarily be provided in the
form in which it is sought unless it would disproportionately
divert the resources of the public authority or
would be detrimental to the safety or preservation
of the record in question. |
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8.
Exemption from disclosure of information - |
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(1)
Notwithstanding anything hereinbefore contained,
the following information not being information
relating to any matter referred to in sub-section
(2), shall be exempted from disclosure, namely: |
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(a)
information, the disclosure of which would prejudicially
affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, security
of the state, strategic scientific or economic interest
of India or conduct of international relations;
(b) information, the disclosure of which would prejudicially
affect public safety and order, detection and investigation
of an offence or which may lead to an incitement
to commit an offence or prejudicially affect fair
trial or adjudication of a pending case;
(c) information, the disclosure of which would prejudicially
affect the conduct of centre-state relations, including
information exchanged in confidence between the
central and state governments or any of their authorities
or agencies;
(d) cabinet papers including records of deliberations
of the council of ministers, secretaries and other
officers;
(e) minutes or records of advice including legal
advice, opinions or recommendations made by any
officer of a public authority during the decision-making
process prior to the executive decision or policy
formulation;
(f) trade or commercial secrets protected by law
or information, the disclosure of which would prejudicially
affect the legitimate economic and commercial interests
or the competitive position of a public authority;
or would cause unfair gain or loss to any person;
and
(g) information, the disclosure of which may result
in the breach of privileges of parliament or the
legislature of a state, or contravention of a lawful
order of a court. |
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(2)
Any information relating to any occurrence, event
or matter which has taken place occurred or happened
25 years before the date on which any request is
made under section 6 shall be provided to any person
making a request under that section:
Provided that where any question arises as to the
date from which the said period of 25 years has
to be computed, the decision of the central government
shall be final. |
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9.
Grounds for refusal to access in certain cases -
Without prejudice to the provisions of section 8,
a public information officer may reject a request
for information also where such request - |
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(a)
is too general in nature or is of such a nature
that, having regard to the volume of information
required to be retrieved or processed would involve
disproportionate diversion of the resources of
a public authority or would adversely interfere
with the functioning of such authority:
Provided that where such request is rejected on
the ground that the request is too general, it
would be the duty of the public information officer
to render help as far as possible to the person
making request to reframe his request in such
a manner as may facilitate compliance with it;
(b) relates to information that is required by
law, rules, regulations or orders to be published
at a particular time and such information is likely
to be so published within 30 days of the receipt
of such request; or
(c) relates to information that is contained in
published material available to public;
(d)
relates to information which would cause unwarranted
invasion of the privacy of any person..
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10.
Severability - If a request for access to information
is rejected on the ground that it is in relation
to information which is exempted from disclosure,
then notwithstanding anything contained in this
act, access may be given to that part of the record
which does not obtain any information that is exempted
from disclosure under this act and which can reasonably
be severed from any part that contains exempted
information. |
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11.
Third party information - Where a public authority
intends to disclose information on a request made
by a party which relates to, or has been supplied
by a third party and has been treated as confidential
by that third party, the public information officer
shall by notice to such third party invite representation
against the proposed disclosure, if any, within
50 days from the date of receipt of such notice:
Provided that except in the case of trade or commercial
secrets protected by law, disclosure may be allowed
if the public interest in disclosure outweighs in
importance any possible harm or injury to the interests
of such third party. |
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12.
Appeals - |
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(1)
Any person aggrieved by a decision of the public
information officer may, within 30 days of receipt
of such decision, prefer an appeal to such authority
as may be prescribed:
Provided that such authority may entertain the
appeal after the expiry of the said period of
30 days if it is satisfied that the appellant
was prevented by sufficient cause from filing
the appeal in time.
(2) A second appeal against the decision under
sub-section (1) shall lie within 30 days of such
decision, to the central government or the state
government or the competent authority, as the
case may be:
Provided that the central government or the state
government or the competent authority, as the
case may be, may entertain the appeal after the
expiry of the said period of 30 days if it is
satisfied that the appellant was prevented by
sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
(3) The appeals referred to in sub-sections (1)
and (2) shall be disposed of within 30 days of
the receipt of such appeals or within such extended
period, as the case may be, for reasons to be
recorded in writing.
(4) If the decision of the public information
officer against which the appeal is preferred
under sub-section (1) or (2) also relates to information
of third party, the appellate authority shall
give a reasonable opportunity of being heard to
that third party.
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Chapter
III
Miscellaneous |
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13.
Protection of action taken in good faith - No suit,
prosecution or other legal proceeding shall lie
against any person for anything which is in good
faith done or intended to be done under this act
or any rule made thereunder. |
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14.
Act to have overriding effect - The Provisions of
Official Secrets Act, 1923 (19 of 1923), and every
other act in force shall cease to be operative to
the extent to which they are inconsistent with the
provisions of this act. |
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15.
Bar of jurisdiction of courts - No court shall entertain
any suit, application or other proceeding in respect
of any order made under this act and no such order
shall be called in question otherwise than by way
of an appeal under this act. |
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16.
Act not to apply to certain organisations -
(1) Nothing contained in this act - |
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(a)
shall apply to the intelligence and security organisations,
specified in the schedule being organisations established
by the central or a state government or any information
furnished by such organisations to the respective
governments;
(b) shall until Part B of the schedule is amended
under sub-section (2), apply to the intelligence
and security organisations by whatever name called
discharging their functions as such under the state
governments. |
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(2)
The central government may, by notification in the
official gazette, amend the schedule by including
therein any other intelligence or security organisation
established by the central or a state government
or omitting therefrom any organisation already specified
therein and on the publication of such notification,
such organisation shall be deemed to be included
in or, as the case may be, omitted from the schedule. |
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(3)
Every notification issued under sub-section (2),
shall be laid before each House of Parliament. |
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17.
Power to make rules by central government - (1)
The central government may, by notification in the
official gazette, make rules to carry out the provisions
of this act |
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(2)
In particular, and without prejudice to the generality
of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for
all or any of the following matters, namely: |
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(a)
intervals at which matters referred to in sub-clauses
(i) to (vi) of clause (b) of section 4 shall be
published;
(b) the fee payable under sub-section (1) of section
7;
(c) the authority before whom an appeal may be preferred
under sub-section (1) of section 12;
(d) any other matter which is required to be, or
may be, prescribed. |
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18.
Power to make rules by state government - |
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(1)
The state government may, by notification in the
official gazette, make rules to carry out the provisions
of this act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the
generality of the foregoing power, such rules may
provide for all or any of the following matters,
namely: |
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(a)
the fee payable under sub-section (1) of section
7;
(b) the authority before whom an appeal may be preferred
under sub-section (1) of section 12;
(c) any other matter which is required to be, or
may be, prescribed: |
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Provided
that initially the rules shall be made by the central
government by notification in the official gazette. |
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19.
Rule-making power by competent authority -
(1) The competent authority may, by notification
in the official gazette, make rules to carry out
the provisions of this act.
(2) In particular, and without prejudice to the
generality of the foregoing power, such rules may
provide for all or any of the following matters,
namely: |
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(a)
the fee payable under sub-section (1) of section
7;
(b) the authority before whom an appeal may be preferred
under sub-section (1) of section 12;
(c) any other matter which is required to be, or
may be, prescribed. |
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20.
Laying of rules - |
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(1)
Every rule made by the central government under
this act shall be laid, as soon as may be after
it is made, before each House of Parliament, while
it is in session, for a total period of 30 days
which may be comprised in one session or in two
or more successive sessions, and if, before the
expiry of the session immediately following the
session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both
houses agree in making any modification in the rule
or both houses agree that the rule should not be
made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only
in such modified form or be of no effect, as the
case may be; so, however, that any such modification
or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity
of anything previously done under that rule.
(2) Every rule made under this act by a state government
shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is notified,
before the state legislature. |
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21.
Power to remove difficulties - |
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(1)
If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the
provisions of this act, the central government may,
by order published in the official gazette, make
such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions
of this act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient
for removal of the difficulty:
Provided that no such order shall be made after
the expiry of a period of two years from the date
of the commencement of this act.
(2) Every order made under this section shall, as
soon as may be after it is made, be laid before
the Houses of Parliament.
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The
schedule (See section 16)
Part A |
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Intelligence
and security organisations established by the
central government
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1.
Intelligence Bureau.
2. Research and Analysis Wing of the Cabinet Secretariat.
3. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.
4. Central Economic Intelligence Bureau.
5. Directorate of Enforcement.
6. Narcotics Control Bureau.
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Part
B |
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Intelligence
and security organisations established by the
state government
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Name
of the organisation Name
of the state
1
2
3 |
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Statement
of objects and reasons |
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The
need to enact a law on the right to information
was recognised unanimously by the chief ministers
conference on 'effective and responsive government'
held on May 24, 1997 at New Delhi. In its 38th report
relating to demands for grants of the ministry of
personnel, public grievances and pension, the parliamentary
standing committee on home affairs recommended that
the government should take measures for enactment
of such a legislation. |
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2.
In order to make the government more transparent,
and accountable to the public, the government of
India appointed a working group on right to information
and promotion of open and transparent government
under the chairmanship of H D Shourie. The working
group was asked to examine the feasibility and need
for either full-fledged right to information act
or its introduction in a phased manner to meet the
needs of open and responsive governance and also
to examine the framework of rules with reference
to the Civil Service (Conduct) Rules and Manual
of Office Procedure. The said working group submitted
its report in May, 1997 along with a draft freedom
of information bill to the government. The working
group also recommended suitable amendments to the
Civil Service (Conduct) Rules and the Manual of
Departmental Security instructions with a view to
bring them in harmony with the proposed bill. |
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3.
The draft bill submitted by the working group was
subsequently deliberated by the group of ministers
constituted by the central government to ensure
that free flow of information was available to the
public, while, inter alia, protecting the national
interest, sovereignty and integrity of India, and
friendly relations with foreign states. |
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4.
The proposed bill is in accord with both article
19 of the constitution as well as article 19 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. |
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5.
In our present democratic framework, free flow of
information for the citizens and non-government
institutions suffers from several bottlenecks including
the existing legal framework, lack of infrastructure
at the grassroot levels and an attitude of secrecy
within the civil service as a result of the old
framework of rules. The government proposes to deal
with all these aspects in a phased manner so that
the freedom of information act became a reality
consistent with the objective of having a stable,
honest, transparent and efficient government. |
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6.
The proposed bill will enable the citizens to have
access to information on a statutory basis. With
a view to further this objective, clause 3 of the
proposed bill specifies that subject to the provisions
of this act, every citizen shall have the right
to freedom of information. Obligation is cast upon
every public authority under clause 4 to provide
information and to maintain all records consistent
with its operational requirements duly catalogued,
indexed and published at such intervals as may be
prescribed by the appropriate government or the
competent authority. |
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7.
The bill seeks to achieve the above objects. |
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Vasundhara
Raje
New Delhi
May 15, 2000
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President's
recommendation under article 117 of the constitution
of India
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(Copy
of letter no 34011/1(s)/97-Estt.(B) dated May 15,
2000 from Vasundhara Raje, minister of state for
personnel, public grievances and pension to the
secretary-general, Lok Sabha) |
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The
President, having been informed of the subject matter
of 'the freedom of information bill, 2000', recommends
the introduction and consideration of the said bill
in the Lok Sabha under article 117(1) and (3) of
the constitution. |
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Financial
memorandum
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1.
Sub-clause 1 of clause 5 of the bill provides for
appointment of one or more officers as public information
officers to deal with requests for information.
It is expected that the various agencies would be
appointing some of their existing officers as the
public information officers for the purpose of this
act or redesignating the publicity or information
officers as public information officers. Only in
a few cases, it might be necessary to create additional
posts for this purpose. Thus, the manpower requirement
in this regard arising from the legislation is expected
to be met from within the existing sanctioned strength
of the various agencies at the central and state
level, all within the existing budget. |
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2.
At this stage, it is not possible to give precise
details of the expenditure to be incurred on material
resources in terms of computers and other office
equipment required for supply of information. However,
the requirement of these items is likely to be met
by the ongoing programmes for computerisation of
operations in various agencies and any additional
expenditure might be offset by recovery of fees
for supply of information. |
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3.
After the proposed bill becomes an act, a nodal
cell for finalisation of rules and instructions,
guiding the states and reporting progress to the
government shall have to be set up in the ministry
of personnel, public grievances and pensions under
the central government. This cell shall consist
of one joint secretary, two deputy secretaries,
two senior analysts and two conventional sections.
In addition, the personal staff of the above officers
will also be appointed. An estimated recurring expenditure
of Rs 28 lakh is likely to be incurred on the salaries
of the officers and staff in the cell. |
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4.
The bill does not involve any other recurring or
non-recurring expenditure.
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| Memorandum
regarding delegated legislation |
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Clause
16 (2) of the bill empowers the central government,
by notification in the official gazette, to amend
the schedule for including any other intelligence
or security organisation established by the central
or state government or omit therefrom any organisation
already specified therein. |
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Clause
17 of the bill empowers the central government to
make rules to carry out the provisions of the act.
Sub-clause (2) of that clause enumerates the matters
with respect to which rules may be made under this
clause.
These matters relate to, inter alia, the intervals
at which particulars of organisation, functions
and duties of its officers, details of facilities
available to citizens for obtaining information
in such organisation; fee payable to obtain an information
from an organisation; the authority to be prescribed
before whom an appeal may be preferred from the
decision of a public information officer and any
other matter which is required to be prescribed.
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Clause
18 of the bill empowers the state government to
make rules to carry out the provisions of the act.
The matters in respect of which such rules may be
made are specified therein. These matters relate
to, inter alia, the fee payable to obtain information
from any organisation; the authority to be prescribed
before whom an appeal may be preferred against the
decision of the public information officer and any
other matter which is required to be prescribed. |
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Clause
19 of the bill empowers the competent authority
to make rules to carry out the provisions of the
act. These matters relate to, inter alia, the fee
payable for obtaining the information from the public
information officer of an organisation; the authority
to be prescribed before whom an appeal may be preferred
against the decision of the public information officer
and any other matter which is required to be prescribed. |
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Clause
21 of the bill empowers the central government by
order to remove certain difficulties which may appear
to it to be necessary or expedient. Further, such
order shall not be made under this clause after
the expiry of a period of two years from the commencement
of this act. Every such order shall be laid before
both Houses of Parliament. |
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The
matters in respect of which rules may be made are
matters of administrative details and procedure
and, it is not practicable to provide for them in
the bill itself. The delegation of legislative power
is, therefore, of a normal character. |
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Every
public authority shall for the purposes of this
act, appoint one or more officers as public information
officers.
