Right to Information [ RTI Act ] 2005 -Historical Background

Right to information Act or the RTI Act  is an act passed by the government of India in 2005. The RTI Act, granted to all the citizens of the country the right to information.

Right to information is a quintessential part of the right to think, right to make choice, right to express and also of the right to live with dignity. Any Indian citizen would be a proud participant in exercising this right. However, the journey to grant this sacred right was never an easy one. Nevertheless, here we are in this 21st century India which protects the ‘Right of Information’ through a path breaking legislation which made governance transparent and accountable. This series of 3 articles endeavours into all those nitty gritties that made possible the realisation of this dream.

Historical Background of RTI Act 2005

In the life of Indian Republic, the first political commitment to the citizen’s right to information came up on the eve of the Lok Sabha Elections in 1977 as a corollary to public resentment against suppression of information, press censorship and abuse of authority during the Internal Emergency of 1975-77.

The Morarji Desai  led Janata party government of 1977 in its election manifesto promised “an open government,” and declared that it would not ‘misuse the intelligence services and governmental authority for personal and partisan ends.” Pursuant to this commitment, Morarji Desai constituted in 1977 a working group to ascertain if the Official Secrets Act, 1923, could be modified so as to facilitate greater flow of information to the public. But the working group brought out a “no change” recommendation shutting the doors to transparency and openness.

In 1986, the Supreme Court in the famous case of Mr. Kulwal v/s Jaipur Municipal Corporation gave a clear cut directive that Freedom of Speech and Expression provided under Article 19 of the Constitution clearly implies Right to Information as without information the freedom of speech and expression cannot be fully used by the citizens.

In 1989, the National Front Government’s renewed its commitment to  right to information. It was an  outcome of the people’s frustration over the earlier government’s reluctance to part with the information relating to Bofors and other deals.

Reintegrating this commitment, the then Prime Minister V.P. Singh, in his first broadcast to the nation in December 1989 said,

“We will have to increase access to information. If the government functions in full public view, wrongdoings will be minimised. To this end, Official Secrets Act will be amended and we will make the functioning more transparent. Right to information will be enshrined in our Constitution.”  

Sadly, despite such strong commitment, there was actually no headway towards transparency and openness in our governmental functioning due to the early fall of the National Front Government.

In 1994, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)[ an organisation for worker’s rights] started a grassroots campaign for Right to Information – demanding information concerning development works in rural Rajasthan. This movement grew and the campaign resulted in the government of Rajasthan enacting a law on Right to Information in 2000.

In 1996, National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), one among several civil society groups, was founded with the objective of getting legislation on RTI passed.

In 1997, Tamilnadu became the first state in India to have passed a law on Right to Information.

In pursuance with the commitment of National Democratic Alliance , the new coalition to implement its National Agenda on Governance,  introduced the Freedom of Information Bill, 2000 in the Parliament. After having been pending for about two years the Bill was finally passed by the parliament on 4th December, 2002 and it received the assent of the President of India on 6th January, 2003 .

Meanwhile, instead of waiting for a central legislation, half a dozen states have enacted their own laws on right to information (RTI Act). These include Goa (1997), Tamil Nadu (1997), Rajasthan (2000), Maharashtra (2000), Karnataka (2000) and Delhi (2001).

In 2004, the UPA government appointed a National Advisory Council to monitor implementation of government schemes and advise government on policy and law. NAC recommended changes to the existing Freedom of Information Act, 2002. RTI bill 2004 was tabled in parliament as applicable only to the Union Government. The civil society protested against the bill as most of the information required by the common man was from state governments.. After heavy lobbying by NCPRI and other organizations the Right to Information Act, 2005 [RTI Act] was passed with 150 amendments.