Right to Information: User Guide

Your Right to Information

Section 3 of the Central Act includes a simple provision which clearly states that all citizens have a right to information. (NB: Most State RTI Acts include a similar provision although Madhya Pradesh only recognises that people have the right to inspect and obtain certain records.)

The provisions of the Central reflect the fact that the Supreme Court of India has recognised on a number of occasions that the right to information is a fundamental right under the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Central Act as well as the existing State Acts, limit access only to a "citizen" of India, which means that foreign residents, refugees and travellers are all barred from using the law to access information.

The different right to information laws throughout the country all have different approaches to implementing the "right" to information. Most significantly, the Central Act limits coverage to certain bodies, and applies to only certain types of information. It is important that you are aware of what limitations the Act contains. This will help you to minimise the possibility that your application will be rejected because it falls within those limitations. The rest of the Guide will take you through the relevant provisions for making an application, step by step.

Please click on the link to the Central RTI Act to read the detailed provisions contained in the law. Please click on the link to CHRI's State RTI pages to find out more about relevant rules and implementation in your specific State.