What is Right to Information

Right to Information is not new. Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution gives every citizen the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression, which the Supreme Court has read to include the right to receive information from the State. The Right to Information Act, 2005 does not create the right. It creates the machinery to exercise it: the form, the fee, the deadlines, the officer, the appeal, the penalty.

Without the Act, a citizen who walked into a government office saying “Article 19 is my right, show me the file” would be thrown out. The Act gives that citizen a procedure that officers are legally bound to respect.

The Act's purpose is stated in its Preamble: to set out a practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority.

In working terms: an informed citizenry keeps government honest. Transparency cuts corruption. Accountability makes the people the master, not the served.

The Act runs from Section 1 to Section 31. The working sections for a citizen are these:

• Section 3 — the right to information is conferred on every citizen.
• Section 4 — every public authority must publish seventeen categories of information on its own (suo motu) even without an RTI application.
• Section 5 — every public authority must designate a Public Information Officer.
• Section 6 — the procedure to make a written request. No reason need be given.
• Section 7 — the thirty-day reply rule. Silence is a deemed refusal.
• Section 8 — the ten grounds on which information may be refused. The only legitimate shield.
• Section 9 — the copyright ground.
• Section 10 — severability: release what can be released, redact what cannot.
• Section 11 — third-party procedure when the information concerns someone other than the applicant.
• Sections 18, 19 — complaints and the two-level appeal.
• Section 20 — penalty on the Officer. Rs 250 per day, up to Rs 25,000.
• Section 22 — overriding effect over the Official Secrets Act, 1923 and inconsistent older laws.

For the full text see the Right to Information Act, 2005 — current text, as amended. For the section-by-section summary see the RTI Act, 2005 summary and notes.

Between 2005 and 2025 the Act moved decades of institutional practice from default secrecy to default disclosure. Landmark decisions under it have opened file notings (CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay), narrowed the “fiduciary” exemption (RBI v. Jayantilal Mistry), expanded the scope of “public authority” (Thalappalam), and applied the Act to the collegium and to party funding disclosures.

On 14 November 2025, Section 8(1)(j) was substituted via Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (notified by the DPDP Rules, 2025). The earlier proviso — that information which cannot be denied to Parliament cannot be denied to a citizen — has been removed. The public-interest override now runs only through Section 8(2). See DPDP Rules, 2025: the amendment to Section 8(1)(j) and PIO reply after DPDP Rules, 2025.

• Guide for applicants. The full applicant walk-through.
• Sample RTI applications. Thirty-plus drafts.
• Template: first RTI application.

1. The Right to Information Act, 2005 (No. 22 of 2005).
2. The Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, notified 14 November 2025.
3. Constitution of India, Article 19(1)(a).

19 April 2026