AN OVERVIEW OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL

INSTRUMENTS

AUTHOR
A.Udhaya sweetline,
Vth year BBA,LLB(Hons),
Saveetha School of Law,
Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS),
Saveetha University,
Mobile No. : 9884417531, E-mail Id: udhaya.guitar@gmail.com

Co- AUTHOR
Mrs. U.RAGA JOTHI., B.Tech.,B.L(Hons).,LLM.,MCL
Assistant Professor of law,
Saveetha School of Law,
Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS),
Saveetha University, Email Id: reachraga@gmail.com
Ph no: 8754563863

AN OVERVIEW OF RIGHT TO INFORMATION AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL

INSTRUMENTS
 A.Udhaya Sweetline*
Mrs. U. Raga jothi**
Abstract
In a democratic ambiance transparency and accountability are two essential pillars. The right to
information act 2005 is a significant legislation and undoubtedly an effect step taken by the
government and legislature.During the Britishers rule in India access to certain type of public
document was denied under the name of secrecy through the official secrets act, 1923. The
dominance of officials and control over documents continued even after 60 years of
Independence. The Right to information act built a good relationship between the common man
and public officials.
Prior to the Right to information act the Freedom of information prevailed in the country was an
un-notified legislation and hence operational.The main object of the Right to information act of
2005 is to provide information on the functions of the government and the documents held by
the public officials. The legislation grants the Right to access information to all citizens and also
makes the distribution of such information an obligation on all public authorities. The term
information covers a wider area from the central government to the local bodies and recipients of
government grants.
The authors in this study focuses to find out whether Right to information is a human right
recognized internationally among the general public through a well structured questionnaire. The
paper is structured into three parts. First part discuss the Right to information as a fundamental
right. Second part deals with the overview of the Right to information and the third part
comprises of the international Legal instruments relating to RTI.
Keywords RTI, Transparency, Accountability, Access, good governance.
___________________________________________________________________________
*A.Udhaya sweetline, Vth year BBA,LLB(Hons), Saveetha School of Law, Saveetha Institute of Medical and
Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha Universit, E-mail Id: udhaya.guitar@gmail.com
**Mrs. U.RAGA JOTHI., B.Tech.,B.L(Hons).,LLM.,MCL Assistant Professor of law,Saveetha School of Law,
Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences (SIMATS), Saveetha University, Email Id:
reachraga@gmail.com
Introduction
Right to know the operation of the government and public act is a major component of a
democratic country and is associated with the right to freedom of speech and expression. This
does not mean the government is to provide all the transactions, functions and operation in an
open arena.(“Website” n.d.) Secrecy can be maintained in matters and documents pertaining to
national security and safety.

Today information is power. In order to shape and shake the social and political development of
the country the most important tools are information and communication. According to the
quality and quantity of the information Man makes history States Kari Marx(Marx and Engels
n.d.).In early 1990s in Rajasthan Aruna Roy initiated the Right to information movement.
Through tremendous amount of struggle and agitation the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
(MKSS) succeeded in putting an end to local exploitation and corruption through access and use
of information obtained. (“[No Title]” n.d.)

The story behind the movement started by MKSS was to help the small farmers and wage
workers. The organization voiced out the right to information on behalf of them to obtain the
information on the rightful wage and benefits given for them by the government.(“Website” n.d.)
Article 19(1) (a) under part III of the Constitution of India provides every citizen the right to
access information as one aspect of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.
(“Website” n.d., “Freedom Of Speech And Expression” n.d.)The right in general sense means the
citizens right to secure or obtain from public authorities all necessary information and
documents on matters concerning public interest.The right allows the citizens to comment,
criticise and approve the government's decisions, policies and programs. Other than Article
19(1)(a) Articles 22(1), 311(2) and 21 also deals with the concept of Right to
information.(“Website” n.d., “Freedom Of Speech And Expression” n.d.; legal Service India
n.d.)

Every person who has been detained or arrested has the right to know the ground and reason for
the arrest or detaining. While under Article 311(2) the reason for the dismal or removal is to be
made aware or know to the concerned public authority.(“Article 311(2) in The Constitution Of
India 1949” n.d.) Right to information is a component of Right to life and personal liberty under
Article 21 of the Constitution of India.The operation of the government is to be made known to
the people so as to have a good governance and corruption free country. (Johnston 2016)
The study aims through a survey with a well structured questionnaire framed and put forth
among the general public with different age groups, gender and educational qualification to find
out whether RTI is required to uphold the principle of transparency and accountability and also
obtain their views on whether RTI is recognised globally as a fundamental human right.
Objectives
● To analyze Right to information as a fundamental right.
● To find whether RTI is a tool for good governance and transparency.
● To know the overview of RTI in India
● To trace the international Legal instruments pertaining to right to information
Review of literature/ Legal research content
Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer said “I regard legislation on the right to information as vital weapon of
the citizen against abuse of power”.(“Website” n.d.) Right to Information Act aids the
individuals to move past their obligation of choosing the legislature to a more extensive
obligation of taking part in the basic leadership and administration forms. It looks to advance
receptiveness, straightforwardness and responsibility in organization(“Freedom Of Speech And
Expression” n.d.). Be that as it may, access to data in itself is anything but an enchanted remedy
for every single social sick. It very well may be a valuable apparatus in enhancing social orders,
however it can't, in itself, realize radical change. A law for appropriate to data can be made
viable just through people groups dynamic association. It forces an obligation on subjects of a
fair society to acquire the required data and utilize it ideally for social advantage.(legal Service
India n.d.)

The Right to Information ought not simply be seen as an instrument of showdown due to lost
energy of a few people and make a wedge between the residents and administration. It needs to
go about as a mirror in order to electrify managerial procedures, control them to the intentional
way of revision, change and change and consequently manufacture a connection between the
nationals and his legislature in an inexorably palatable way.(“Website” n.d.)
The powers of officials under the official secrets Act, 1923(Bhargavi and Philomina 2015;
“Website” n.d., “The Official Secrets Act, 1923” n.d.) were suspended through the enactment of
the Right to information Act, 2005 which came into force on 12th October 2005. (Prakash n.d.)
On the whole the act provides and prescribed the following in its provisions:
● Every citizen has the right to information.
● The information seeked is to be given in the manner of samples, reports, records,
documents, emails, circulars, etc.
● Few informations pertaining to National security and safety are exempted and need not
be produced or made accessible to the citizens.
● The requested information is to be given either in the form of certified copy or in
electronic format.
● The information must be published by all public authorities in writing format.
● In the context of the act public authorities are both central and state government.
● The requested and seeked information is to be produced within a period of 30 days.
● The act provides with the right to access third party information without ruining the
reputation and privacy of the party.
● In case of non compliance with the provisions of the act penalty is provided in the act.
● The procedure for proceedings and appeals are clearly given in the act.

The history of Right to information can be traced back to the year 1946 when the United Nations
in its General assembly adopted resolution 59(1) which stated and recognized freedom of
information as a fundamental human right.
(“Freedom of Information | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization”
n.d.)
Further the UDHR in 1948 gave power to Right to information under Article 19 which gave the
right to every person to seek and receive information and ideas and also under the International
Covenant On Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1996 provided with the right to seek, receive,
impart information and ideas of all kinds regardless of their frontiers. These information can be
obtained either through print, writing, oral, form of art or through any other media.
In the international scenario right to information is an inalienable fundamental human right. The
International Covenant On Civil and Political Rights gave legal status to Article 19 of the UDHR
through Article 9(2) and Article 19(2) which provides the right to every arrested person that at
the time of arrest he is to be informed about the reason and charges of arrest and the freedom to
seek receive information of all kinds in any manner they want to. Later in order to monitor and
report on the international implementation of freedom of information the UNHRC appointed a
special rapporteur in the year 1993.
In the regional level there are other documents that recognise and give legal status to freedom of
information namely the European convention for the protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental freedoms, the American Convention on Human Rights, the African charter on
Human and people's rights, etc..(“CHRI: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative” n.d.)

In the domestic arena the RTI act 2005 comprises of six chapters and two schedules. The three
major goals of Right to information are - one to enhance transparency in the operation of the
public officials and authorities. Two- the accountability for the actions done by the official and
to increase the public relation with the government.
The main and important provisions of the act are:
● The obligation of the public authorities - section 4
● Designating of public information officer is prescribed under section 5 of the act.
● The Constitution of Central and state autonomous information commission is constituted
under namely section 12,13,15 and 16.
Procedure to file RTI in India
i) First and foremost before registering with the official website the department is to be identified
that is on what department or branch you want to file an RTI is to be thoroughly researched.
ii) writing the application in a prescribed format or either in a plain sheet of paper. The language
in the application can be English or hindi.
iii) Making payment of the fee stated
iv) send application online or through registered post and wait for the response for a period of 30
days.(“CHRI: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative” n.d., “How to File RTI for Central
Government Departments with the Central Information Commission?” n.d.)
Materials and methods
The researcher has done empirical study on the concept of Right to information and international
Legal instruments. The primary information for the research is collected through field study from
1437 randomly selected respondents which included general public of different age group with a
well framed and structured survey questionnaire. The questions put forward in the survey to the
respondents to know whether RTI is required to uphold the principle of transparency and
accountability and also obtain their views on whether RTI is recognised globally as a
fundamental human right. The collected responses are portrayed in frequency table, cross tabular
table and chi square tests table. The calculation done by the researcher based on the responses
received is the pearson chi square technique was used. The secondary sources used by the
researcher for the study is by referring to books, research articles, e-sources, articles, journals ,
newspapers. The study also found number of male respondents and number of female
respondents.The study is based and done by collecting information from both primary and
secondary sources by the researcher.

Analysis and discussion

Frequency Table
Discussion

Totally 1496 responses were collected from the general public to find out their knowledge about
the RTI as a internationally recognized fundamental human right and to find out whether RTI
upholds the principle of transparency and accountability in the country out of which 790 are
male and 706 are female respondents.

Question 1: Right to information is a globally recognized fundamental human right?

H0: Right to information is not known to the people as a fundamental human right recognized
globally irrespective of their gender.
Ha: Right to information is known to the people as a fundamental human right recognized
globally irrespective of their gender.

Discussion
From the above tables and responses received the following is inferred :

Crosstab-According to the responses received it is evident that totally 722 out of 1439 have
answered that Right to information is not a globally recognized fundamental human right in the
international arena but in reality Right to information got national Recognition in many countries
as the right was given Legal status in ICCPR and ICESCR.

Chi square value- The Value is above 0.05 it is less significant. Hence null Hypothesis is
proved here. Right to information is not known to the people as a fundamental human right
recognized globally irrespective of their gender.

Question 2: Is Right to information necessary for upholding the principles of transparency

and accountability?
H0: Irregardless of gender the public does not believe RTI is not necessary for upholding the
principles of transparency and accountability.
Ha: Irregardless of gender the public believe that RTI is not necessary for upholding the
principles of transparency and accountability.

Discussion

From the above tables and responses received the following is inferred :

Crosstab- According to the responses received it is evident that totally only 680 out of 1437
believe that RTI is necessary for upholding the principles of transparency and accountability.
The reason is that many are unaware of such a great right that when used can bring In a massive
amount of changes in the functioning of the government and governmental institutions.

Chi square value- The Value is above 0.05 it is less significant. Hence null Hypothesis is
proved. Irregardless of gender the public does not believe RTI is not necessary for upholding the
principles of transparency and accountability.

Suggestions
● The legislature should find a way to expand mindfulness among the general population
through radio, TV, daily paper. Promotions, printing and circulation booklets, leaflets,
walling, and so on., might be turned to spread the points and targets of Right to
Information Act among the general population.
● It has been denoted that various posts under different divisions are lying empty because
of limitations on crisp enrollment. In addition, the vast majority of the divisions are
neither modernized nor have its own site. It is the obligation and duty of the
administration to start e-administration framework in all divisions for the effective
execution of Right to Information Act.
● A period may come when data necessities might be more than the age of data. The
administration ought to proactively make solid strides like making accessible the data on
web on an extremely vast scale.
● A different report is prescribed to enhance the current record administration rules and
make them 'Appropriate to Information well disposed'. Re-association of record
administration framework to advance data administration is prescribed.
● At the state level a preparation usage plan ought to be outlined with help from the state
government. Leader of the general population specialist should claim the obligation of
preparing the authorities in its specialization.
● As a one-time measure, the legislature of India ought to burn through one percent of their
arranged spending plans for executing Right to Information Act for a time of five years
for refreshing records, enhancing framework, making manuals, and so forth and on
mindfulness age programs.
● The subjects need to keep running starting with one office then onto the next office
looking for the right Public Information Officer. It is suggested that there ought to be a
 solitary window approach in every division or service in accepting applications and
claims under the Right to Information, with the end goal to forestall badgering to the
general population.

Conclusion
The researcher by entire examination of the above clarified factual apparatus reasons that a
considerable lot of the issues in usage of Right to Information Act are because of absence of
clear responsibility set up through fitting government standards and absence of controls to gauge
the viability of execution. The Act should be completely revised to evacuate the unmerited
arrangements as well as to incorporate essential arrangements like insurance of informant,
disciplines in regard of infringement of the arrangements and the yet to be established Lok Pal
bill. There is a need to lead an intensive report itemizing the jobs and duties of different
substances and setting up a control system. Learning by the general population about their
administration is basic if majority rule government is to succeed. The administration can't work
effectively if its exercises are hidden in obliviousness, misconception and secret. Open experts
must come into the commercial center and tell individuals basically and unmistakably what they
are attempting to do and why. They ought to clarify and legitimize their strategies. They ought in
all honesty about troubles and weaknesses. Just by a conscious exertion of this kind can partiality
and oblivious or vindictive feedback be maintained a strategic distance from, and a separating
collection of popular conclusion developed.

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