Right to Information Act, 2005: An Analysis

The right to information is a potent weapon in the hand of the citizenry to gain access to public records. It not only provides information but also fosters accountability and transparency and strengthens the democratic principles of a polity. Swedan was the first country to grant right to access government information to its people way back in 1812. Subsequently many jurisdictions made this right available to its citizens so that they are well informed as to be the sentinels of democracy. This legislation forms the shape of special legislation imposing the obligations on every public authority to provide information to the person seeking it.

This paper seeks to ascertain the progress of Right to Information Act after a decade of its, being in force. The right of information is regarded as an implicit right within the freedom of speech and expression. Judicial activism has played a critical role in amplifying these rights for the civil society. Though the Act has certain shortcomings, where it fails to deliver accuracy. These are to be nipped at the earliest to secure development of socioeconomic services.

University of North Bengal, 2020

The people's democratic responsibilities do not just begin or end with the right to cast their votes; they are also required to nurture the democratic system in the day-today functioning towards better Governance. While transparent Governance is an essential feature to restore accountability and increase in efficiency, accountability of the Governor to be governed is also an essential feature of good governance. The Right to Information is one such dimension that creates an environment of sharing of information and provides to each and every citizen of India the basic Constitutional and democratic right to gain access to certain information held by the Public Authority. The Right to Information can be said to have been heralded as one of the most significant reform towards the onset of public administration in India. This far reaching law is like a ray of hope which has the ability to disperse the darkness of secrecy and bad effects of corruption, and ensure transparency and accountability which are the hallmarks of an efficient and good going Governance. It basically acts as a catalyst which facilitates the onset of a new value system and rejuvenation of hope in order to establish a better, educated and a happier society.

South Asian Studies, 2017

In South Asia the Right to Information (RTI) is recognized as a basic human right of every human being, and is incorporated in the form of fundamental right in the Constitutions of these countries. Free and fair access to relevant information, and participation of public in Governmental decisions making, acts as a catalyst in the transformation of the governance into the ideal governance.Therefore, Right to Information is an instrumental force to control the abuse of powers on the part of the public functionaries and make their actions accountable. In this contextual perspective the Right to Information (RTI) is perceived as a linchpin of the machinery of Good Governance, responsibility, transparency and accountability.This research paper, interalia, highlights that Right to Information has a closest nexus with Good Governance in a country and minimize the nepotism and corruption in the society.Hence, in South Asian Countries Right to Information regime empowers the general public viz-a-viz Government actions and policies

Indian Journal of Applied Research, 2011

Countercurrents, 2015

The Right to Information Act passed in 2005 provided a ray of hope for common people as it promises transparency and accountability in governance and captured the imagination of masses soon. The law has a potential to be a crucial catalyst in challenging the power equation between the common masses and the ruling classes besides curtailing corruption. The object to create this Act was to serve a larger public interest to question the age old hierarchical traditional system of governance and to strengthen foundation for a true participatory democracy. However, the assessment of ten years of its implementation reveals that many promises remain unfulfilled. The law has failed to benefit citizens as recently the bureaucratic apparatus is creating hurdles in its smooth implementation. Instead of empowering citizens, the law has been operated in a manner to exclude majority of populace. The widening polarity between the givers and the receivers of information is creating a hindrance in smooth functioning of democracy. The RTI (Right to Information) is rather gradually becoming an OTI (Obstruction to Information) where the giver of the information no longer is willingly parting the required information rather the giver is trying to utilize all the armaments to prevent sharing the same. What is being shared is propaganda where partial information is shared to influence the audiences by selectively presenting the facts to produce emotional rather than the rational response to the political or a social situation. In the age of information and technology, when the usable, relevant and timely information should be proactively disclosed by the public authorities, often they end up denying transparency and accountability by withholding the required pertinent information. The usability from the perspective of the information seeker is often lacking and RTI has failed to become a user friendly law. The backlash against RTI by government and judiciary is further hampering the citizen’s fundamental right to know. To counter such denial and hostility by the bureaucratic machinery, the civil society and citizens have to find innovative ways and means so that RTI truly serves the purpose of ending corruption and facilitate better governance.

Indian Journal of Public Administration, 2008

Right to Information Act (RT/), 2005 is emerging as a potent weapon in the hands of citizens for ensuring transparency and accountability in administration. The functioning of bureaucracy, which was shrouded in the veil of secrecy, was causing lot of harassment to the common man. The RT/ Act has brought relief to the much harried and harassed citizens. Even though these are the early days, it has started realising its potential. The Act contains 31 Sections, the crux lies in its Section 4, which makes it obligatory on the part of various public agencies to not only maintain its records in a set format, but also update it on a regular basis. It is believed that if the information is not maintained as per the provisions of the Section 4 by the concerned agencies, it will not be possible for them to provide the information to the information seekers. Therefore, it is important rather vital to ensure the compliance by various public organisations with the provisions contained in the Section 4 of the RT! Act, if the spirit of RT! is to be upheld.

IJASOS- International E-journal of Advances in Social Sciences, 2017

With the passage of time majority of the states have changed their political system from other kinds to democratic, because democracy is the only political system which cares for the public opinion. In democracy, the people have right to vote, through which they elect their choice of representatives directly or indirectly. It is the only system for which the term good governance is being used. The term good governance can be used for the government which protects the rights of the people and provide them equal opportunities, care for public opinion, whose policies are clear and crystal before the common peoples and where no underhand game is being played. That's why it is known as a government which is participatory, accountable and transparent, where all the citizens are equal before the law. With the passage of time the laws are made to make the government more accountable and its policies transparent, for this purpose majority of the states have incorporated the right to information in their constitution. Through this right the people can have access to public related information, which enable the peoples to keep eye on government, in return the corruption can be decreased and it will create more accountable government. It will create hindrance in the way of abuse of power and corruption. Pakistan is a democratic state and there is a separate chapter of fundamental rights in the constitution of Pakistan, in April 2010 through eighteenth amendment article 19-A was incorporated in the 1973 constitution of Pakistan regarding right to information aiming to create more accountable, transparent and participatory system. This research paper is an attempt to analyze that how right to information can be a step towards good governance in Pakistan.