Right to Information Wiki

RTI Act or Statutory Rules for giving information under RTI Act 2005

Once Public Authorities have put information in the public domain and put a price on accessing that information, they cannot be said to hold control of that...

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explanations:rti-act-or-statutory-act [2017/04/14 03:28] – Shrawanexplanations:rti-act-or-statutory-act [2026/04/23 00:47] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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 +//Last reviewed on: 20 April 2026//
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 {{tag>decisions}} {{tag>decisions}}
 ====== RTI Act or Statutory Rules for giving information under RTI Act 2005 ======  ====== RTI Act or Statutory Rules for giving information under RTI Act 2005 ====== 
  
-Once Public Authorities have put information in the public domain and put a price on accessing that information, they cannot be said to hold control of that information in terms of [[:act|Section 2(j)]] of the RTI Act. If any application is made under RTI Act to access such already disclosed information, it would suffice if the public authority informed the applicant where and how to access that information and also the fact that it was already in the public domain.+{{ :social:auto:explanations-rti-act-or-statutory-act.png?direct&1200 |explanations / rti-act-or-statutory-act — RTI Wiki}} 
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 +{{htmlmetatags>metatag-keywords=(explanations rti act or statutory act rti right to information india) 
 +metatag-description=(Once Public Authorities have put information in the public domain and put a price on accessing that information, they cannot be said to hold control of that...)}} 
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 +<WRAP center round info 95%> 
 +**In one line.** The RTI Act is a **statutory** Act — not a constitutional amendment. But the right it enforces (Article 19(1)(a)) is constitutional. The Act provides the **machinery** to exercise that right. 
 + 
 +**What that means in practice.** 
 +  * Section 22 gives the Act **overriding effect** over inconsistent older laws like the Official Secrets Act, 1923. 
 +  * The Act can be amended by Parliament (and was, in 2019); the right under Article 19(1)(a) cannot. 
 +</WRAP> 
 + 
 +Once Public Authorities have put [[:explanations:information|information]] in the public domain and put a price on accessing that information, they cannot be said to hold control of that information in terms of [[:act|Section 2(j)]] of the RTI Act. If any application is made under RTI Act to access such already disclosed information, it would suffice if the [[:explanations:public-authority|public authority]] informed the applicant where and how to access that information and also the fact that it was already in the public domain.
    
 The inference from the text of this sub-section and, especially the three expressions quoted above, is that an information to which a citizen will have a right should be shown to be a) an information which is accessible under the RTI Act and b) that it is held or is under the control of a certain public authority. This should mean that unless an information is exclusively held and controlled by a public authority, that information cannot be said to be an information accessible under the [[:act|RTI Act]]. Inferentially it would mean that once a certain information is placed in the public domain accessible to the citizens either freely, or on payment of a pre-determined price, that information cannot be said to be ‘held’ or ‘under the control of’ the public authority and, thus would cease to be an information accessible under the [[:act|RTI Act]]. The inference from the text of this sub-section and, especially the three expressions quoted above, is that an information to which a citizen will have a right should be shown to be a) an information which is accessible under the RTI Act and b) that it is held or is under the control of a certain public authority. This should mean that unless an information is exclusively held and controlled by a public authority, that information cannot be said to be an information accessible under the [[:act|RTI Act]]. Inferentially it would mean that once a certain information is placed in the public domain accessible to the citizens either freely, or on payment of a pre-determined price, that information cannot be said to be ‘held’ or ‘under the control of’ the public authority and, thus would cease to be an information accessible under the [[:act|RTI Act]].
  
-This interpretation is further strengthened by the provisions of the RTI Act in [[:act|Sections 4(2), 4(3) and 4(4)]], which oblige the public authority to constantly endeavour “to take steps in accordance with the requirement of clause b of subsection 1 of the Section 4 to provide as much information suo-motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communication including internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.” (Section 4 sub-section 2). This Section further elaborates the position. It states that “All materials shall be disseminated taking into consideration the cost effectiveness, local language and the most effective method of communication in that local area and the information should be easily accessible, to the extent possible in electronic format with the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, available free or at such cost of the medium or the print cost price as may be prescribed.”+This interpretation is further strengthened by the provisions of the RTI Act in [[:act|Sections 4(2), 4(3) and 4(4)]], which oblige the public authority to constantly endeavour “to take steps in accordance with the requirement of clause b of subsection 1 of the Section 4 to provide as much information suo-motu to the public at regular intervals through various means of communication including internet, so that the public have minimum resort to the use of this Act to obtain information.” (Section 4 sub-section 2). This Section further elaborates the position. It states that “All materials shall be disseminated taking into consideration the cost effectiveness, local language and the most effective method of communication in that local area and the information should be easily accessible, to the extent possible in electronic format with the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, available free or at such cost of the medium or the print cost price as may be [[:explanations:prescribed|prescribed]].”
  
 The RTI Act very clearly sets the course for the evolution of the RTI regime, which is that less and less information should be progressively held by public authorities, which would be accessed under the RTI Act and more and more of such held information should be brought into the public domain suo-motu by such public authority.  The RTI Act very clearly sets the course for the evolution of the RTI regime, which is that less and less information should be progressively held by public authorities, which would be accessed under the RTI Act and more and more of such held information should be brought into the public domain suo-motu by such public authority. 
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 +
 +===== Related =====
 +
 +  * [[:act|The RTI Act, 2005 (as amended)]]
 +  * [[:explanations|All explanations]]
 +  * [[:why-rti-gets-rejected|Why RTI gets rejected]]
 +  * [[:templates:first-rti|First RTI template]]
 +  * [[:faq|25 RTI Questions Answered]]