Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment : Karnataka Information Commissioner Vs. PIO (HC) - Unreported Judgment
About the case: A RTI applicant requested the Karnataka High Court
for certified copies of some information/documents regarding guidelines
and rules pertaining to scrutiny and classification of writ petitions and
the procedure followed by the Karnataka High Court in re
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment : R.K. Jain Vs. Union of India JT 2013 (10) SC 430
The issue before the Court: The information requested was inspection
of adverse confidential remarks against ‘integrity’ of a member of
Tribunal and follow up actions taken on issue of integrity. Exemption
was claimed on the basis of Section 8 (1) (j).
The Court held that: Inter al
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment : Bihar Public Service Commission Vs. Saiyad Hussain Abbas Rizvi JT 2012 (12) SC 552
The main issue before the Court: The applicant had asked for names
and addresses of interviewers in an interview board selecting candidates
for Bihar government jobs.
The Court held that: the Commission is not bound to disclose the
information aske
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment: Manohar s/o Manikrao Anchule vs. State of Maharashtra AIR 2013 SC 681
The issue before the Court: It was a case where disciplinary action had
been recommended against the PIO under Section 20 (2) of the Act by
the Information Commission.
The observations of the Court:
Para 11. The impugned orders do not
take the basic facts o
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment : Girish Ramchandra Deshpande Vs. Central Information Commission & Ors. (2013) 1 SCC 212
The issue before the Court: Whether the information pertaining to a
Public Servant in respect of his service career and also the details of his
assets and liabilities, movable and immovable properties, can be denied
on the ground that the informati
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgments: Namit Sharma Vs. Union of India (2013) 1 SCC 745
The issue before the Court: The Constitutional validity of Sections
12(5), 12(6), 15(5) and 15(6) of RTI Act, were challenged, which deals
with the appointment and qualifications of Information Commissioners.
The Court held that: The Court ruled that all Information
Commissions must s
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment : CPIO, Supreme Court Vs. Subhash Chandra Agrwal
(2011) 1 SCC 496.
Case to be decided by Constitution Bench of the
Supreme Court. The Constitution Bench is yet to be constituted.
The issue before the Court: Whereas the information sought pertains
to the Appointment of Judges in the Apex Court itself, the court framed
the follow
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment : Khanpuram Gandaiah Vs. Administrative Officer AIR 2010 SC 615
The issue before the Court: The scope of the definition of
“Information” contained in section 2(f) of the RTI Act.
The observations of the Court:
Para 6. Under the RTI Act "information" is defined under Section 2(f)
which provides: "information" means any material i
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment : Inst. Of Chartered Accountants Vs Shaunak H. Satya AIR 2011 SC 3336
The issue before the Court:
(i) Whether the instructions and solutions
to questions (if any) given by ICAI to examiners and moderators, are
intellectual property of the ICAI, disclosure of which would harm the
competitive position of third parties and therefore
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment : Chief Information Commissioner Vs. State of Manipur AIR 2012 SC 864
The main issue before the Court: Whether the Information
Commissioner can direct the disclosure of information when a
complaint is made u/s 18 of the RTI Act.
The observations of the Court: Para 36: “This Court accepts the
argument of the appellant that any other co
Critical Analysis of Supreme Court Judgements on the RTI Act, 2005
By Shailesh Gandhi,
Former Central Information Commissioner
Judgment 1: CBSE Vs. Aditya Bandopadhyay (2011) 8 SCC 497
The main issue before the Court: Whether an examinee's (Students)
right to information under the RTI Act includes a right to inspect his
evaluated answer books in a public examination and taking certified
copies of the same. The examining body,-CBSE,- had claimed that it
held the in
One year of RTI: Success stories
Oct 11, 2006 13:53 IST
In Haryana
A 70-old-woman gained access to files regarding pension and other benefits of her dead son — a Delhi Police constable who died in a road accident five years ago. Laxmi Devi of Bhiwani district had appealed to the Central Information Commission for access to notings in files pertaining to her son’s terminal benefits worth Rs 4 lakh. Laxmi was penniless after her son Anoop Singh’s death. Her daughter-in-law wa
How I became an Information Commissioner ?
AUGUST 28, 2017 BY SHAILESH GANDHI
Some friends wonder how I have the gall to be critical of the lack of process in selecting Information Commissioners, since they believe I must have resorted to influence and patronage for my selection.
Let me detail the story of how i got selected:
In the first week of August 2008 Arvind Kejriwal learnt that the government had decided on the names of four persons whom they would appoint as Central
RTI constricted
RTI usage and propagation is moving at a fast pace because of citizen enthusiasm and desire for accountable governance. The biggest gain has been in empowering individual citizens to translate the promise of ‘democracy of the people, by the people, for the people’ into a living reality. The law as framed by Parliament has outstandingly codified this fundamental right of citizens. When framing the law cognizance had been taken of various landmark decisions of the Supreme Cou
'Misuse’ of RTI
AUGUST 28, 2017 BY SHAILESH GANDHI
As an Information Commissioner who dealt with over 20000 cases I had the opportunity of interacting with a large number of RTI users and Public Information Officers (PIOs).
Generally PIOs would refer to most applicants who file RTI applications regularly as blackmailers, harassers and those who were misusing RTI. I would broadly divide those who filed a large number of RTI applications in the following categories:
Those who
Judiciary and RTI
AUGUST 28, 2017 BY SHAILESH GANDHI
The Supreme Court of India consistently held from 1975 to 2005 that RTI is a fundamental right of citizens. However certain decisions and pronouncements of the Courts in the last four years could weaken this powerful fundamental right.
These should be discussed by RTI users and the legal fraternity:
Challenging decisions of the Information Commission and stay orders: The law provides for no appeals against the decisions of
RTI File notings helps 70-yr-old uses RTI to get dead son’s records
Posted by rtiact2005 on August 5, 2006
70-yr-old uses RTI to get dead son’s records
New Delhi, PTI:
A 70-year-old woman from Haryana has used the Right To Information Act to gain access to files regarding the pension and other benefits of her son, a Delhi Traffic Police constable who was killed in a road accident over five years ago.
A 70-year-old woman from Haryana has used the Right To Information Act
This village has finally tasted the power of RTI:
For about two years, Suvarana Bhagyawant made rounds of the panchayat office to get her grandfather's death certificate. Every time, the official there would tell her to come later or pay a bribe of Rs 500 to get the work done.
Suvarana, a resident of the Ambhegaon village, needed the certificate so that her grandmother could apply for the widow pension scheme. Finally, Suvarana filed a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Sh
Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information. It is an initiative taken by Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to provide a–RTI Portal Gateway to the citizens for quick search of information on the details of first Appellate Authorities,PIOs etc. amongst others, besides access to RTI related information / disclosures published on the web by various Public Authorities under the gove
Procedure of filing an RTI In India:
The necessary requisites of an application filed under the RTI Act are:
The aspirant must be the civilian of India. .
The request must cover the details of facts and figures required.
The proof of payment of application fee should be hemmed in.
The address of the aspirant should be accessible for directing a reply.
Private particulars excluding those essential for communicating an applicant are not required to be stated.
How to Stop Corruption?
Corruption is one of the most disruptive problems faced by the world and it needs to stop without further damage to the humanity so as to have a better future for the coming generation.
Corruption is a disease, a cancer that eats into the cultural, political and economic fabric of society, and destroys the functioning of vital organs. In the words of Transparency International, “Corruption is one of the greatest challenges of the contemporary world. It undermines
