THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT 2005 :

The Right to Information Act, 2005 (22 of 2005) has been enacted by the Parliament and has
come into force from 15 June, 2005. This Act provides for 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. All Universities and
Colleges established by law made by Parliament or by State Legislature or by notification by the
appropriate Government or owned, controlled or substantially financed directly or indirectly by
funds provided by the Government shall come within the meaning of a Public Authority under
this Act.

Whereas, some provisions of this act have come into effect immediately on its enactment (that is
on 15 June 2005), other provisions shall come into effect on 100 / 120 days of its enactment. All
universities and colleges are therefore advised to carefully go through this Act and take
necessary steps for implementation of various provisions including proactive disclosure of
certain kind of information. Such information shall be made available to the public at large
through the website by the concerned university/college.

SCOPE :

The Act extends to the whole of India. [a][7] It covers all the constitutional authorities, including
executive, legislature and judiciary; any institution or body established or constituted by an act of
Parliament or a state legislature. It is also defined in the Act that bodies or authorities established
or constituted by order or notification of appropriate government including bodies "owned,
controlled or substantially financed" by government, or non-Government organizations
"substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds".
Procedure to be followed for obtaining information under RTI

1. Application obtaining information:- (Section 2 (m), 6 and 27)

1. A person, who desires to obtain any information admissible under the Act, shall make an
application in Form ‘A’ to the State Public Information Officer alongwith a fee, as specified in
sub rule (1) of rule 5 of these rules.

2. On the receipt of an application, made under sub-rule

(1), the State Public Information Officer shall give a receipt in token thereof to the applicant in
Form ‘B’.

3. Each public authority shall maintain the information register in Form ‘C’ in respect of the
records of requests received from applicants for seeking information under the Act.

4. The application, received without requisite fee, shall not be entertained and shall be liable to
be rejected straightway without giving any notice to the applicant.

2. Deposit of fee:- (Section 6)

1. The fee paid in the following modes, namely:- a. by Crossed Bank Draft/Banker's Cheque/IPO
or cash in favour of Registrar,

FOR EX. I.K. Gujral Punjab Technical University payable at Kapurthala from where the
information is to be obtained; or b. in cash with the Registrar, I.K. Gujral Punjab Technical
University Jalandhar ;

2. The amount of fee shall be credited to the account as referred to in clause ( c) of sub-rule (1):
Provided that the Board, Corporations and other Autonomous bodies of the State, may get the
amount of requisite fee deposited in their own accounts maintained by them.

3. On receipt of an application, submitted under sub-rule of 3, the State Public Information

Officer shall scrutinize the application and shall assess how much fee is required to be paid by
the applicant for obtaining the information.

4. The fee, assessed under sub-rule (3), shall be informed to the applicant by the State Public
Information Officer in Form ‘D’ within a period of ten days from the receipt of application.

5. The intimation of rejection of an application of the applicant seeking information under the
Act, shall be intimated by the State Public Information Officer concerned, in Form ‘E’.

6. The amount of fee collected under this rule, shall be maintained in the Cash register as
specified in Form ‘F 3. Quantum of fee:- (Section 6 and 7)
1. An application for obtaining any information under sub-section (1) of section 6 shall be
accompanied with a fee of rupees ten only.

2. The following fee shall be charged for providing information under sub-section (1) of section
7, namely:- a. Rupees two for each page in A-4 or A-3 size paper, created or copied; and

b. Actual charge or cost price of a copy in larger size paper;

c. Actual cost or price for samples or models;

d. For inspection of records, no fee for the first hour; and a fee of rupees five for each fifteen
minutes (or fraction thereof) thereafter;

e. For information provided in diskette or floppy rupees fifty per diskette or floppy; and

f. For information provided in printed from at the price fixed for such publication or rupees two
per page of photocopy for extracts from the publication.

3. The applicant shall, while depositing fee under sub-rule (2) of rule 4, shall also submit a self
addressed envelope duly stamped for supplying the information. Stamps on the envelope shall be
affixed according the mode supplying the information, as duly desired by the applicant i.e.
through ordinary registered or speed post.

4. Procedure to be followed in deciding appeal:- (Section 19 (10))

Before deciding an appeal, the Commission shall,-

1. serve notice to the concerned persons;

2. entertain any evidence in support of appeal, which may be oral or in writing from the
concerned persons;

3. examine on oath or by having affidavits from the persons concerned;

4. peruse or inspect the documents or any records or copies thereof;

5. inquire through the authorized officer the facts of an appeal or may require facts in detail, if it
so deems appropriate, hear the State Public Information Officer or nay other senior officer, who
had decided the first appeal, as the case may be; and receive evidence on affidavits from the
officer senior in rank to State Information Officer who had decided the first appeal or from any
other officer or person authorized in this behalf from whom the evidence may be deemed
necessary.
5. Mode of serving notice:- (Section 19 (10))

The commissioner may serve notice to the person concerned in any of the following modes,
namely:- a. by hand delivery (dasti) through process server; or b. by registered post with
acknowledgement due; or c. by publication in the news paper;

6. Order by the Commission :- (Section 19 (10)) a. The Commissioner shall make order in
writing and pronounce the same in the presence of the concerned parties. b. After the decision is
pronounced by the Commissioner, it shall intimate the same to the complainant and the State
Information Officer of the Department or the public authority concerned

7. Repeal and Saveing:- The Punjab Right to Information Rules 2006 are hereby repealed:
Provide that any order made or action taken under the rules so repealed shall be deemed to have
been made or taken under the corresponding provisions of these rules.

PUBLIC AUTHORITIES :

CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION :

Section 12 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 deals with the constitution of a statutory body
known as the Central Information Commission. According to this provision, the central
government shall constitute a body called the Central Information Commission bypassing a
notification in the Official Gazette. The Central Information Commission is entitled to exercise
the powers conferred to it and perform its duties and functions as per this legislation. The
Government of India through the Parliament of India amended the Right to Information Act in
July 2019 and introduced some changes in RTI Rules related to salaries, allowances, and tenures
of the Information Commissioner(s). The members of opposition parties started protesting and
challenging these proposed amendments on the ground that these changes are arbitrary in nature
and the Government of India wants to degrade the effectiveness of the Information Commission.

Composition of Central Information Commission

The Central Information Commission consists of the Central Information Commissioner and
more than ten Information commissioners. The President of India appoints the Chief
Information commissioner and the information commissioners on the recommendation of
the committee consisting of the Prime Minister as chairperson, the leader of the opposition
in the Lok Sabha and union cabinet ministers nominated by the Prime Minister.
They should be persons of eminence in public life with experience and knowledge & Law,
management, journalism, science & technology, administration & governance, mass media and
social service. They should not be members of legislative assembly of any state or Union
territory. They should not be connected with any political party or carrying any business, they
should not hold any office of profit or pursuing any other profession.
Power and functions of Information Commissions
Section 18 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 talks about the powers and functions of the
Information Commission. As per this provision, it is a duty of the Central Information
Commission and the State Information Commission to inquire the complaints received from any
person:

1. who has been unable to submit a request for information to a Public Information
Officer either at central or state level, either by the reason that no such officers have
been appointed under this statute or the appointed officers refuse to accept his/her
application;
2. who has been refused to get access to the information requested under this statute;
3. who has not been receiving any response for the application he/she made for
information and access to information with the limited time as per this legislation;
4. who has been required to pay an unreasonable amount of fee;
5. who believes that the information provided by the officers are false, misleading and
incomplete in nature;
6. In respect of other matters related to the violation of the provisions of this Act.

State Information Commission:

Composition, Power and Functions

The State Information Commission will be constituted by the State Government through a
Gazette notification. It will have one State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) and not
more than 10 State Information Commissioners (SIC) to be appointed by the Governor.

The State Information Commission will be constituted by the State Government through a
Gazette notification. It will have one State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) and not
more than 10 State Information Commissioners (SIC) to be appointed by the Governor.

The Right to Information Act, 2005 provides for the creation of State Information Commission at
the State level.

Composition of State Information Commission

The Commission consists of a State Chief Information commissioner and ten State Information
Commissioners. They are appointed by the Governor on the recommendation of the
committee consisting of the Chief Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of the Opposition in
the Legislative Assembly and a state Cabinet Minister nominated by the Chief Minister. They
 should be person of eminence in public life and should not hold any other office of profit or
connected with any political party or carrying on any business or pursuing any profession.

Tenure and Service

The State Chief Information Commissioner and a State Information Commissioner hold office
for a term of 5 years or until they attain the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. They are
not eligible for reappointment.

Powers and Functions of the State Information Commission

 The commission submits and annual report to the state government on the implementation of the
provisions of this act. The state government places this report before the state legislature.
 The commission can order inquiry into any matter if there are reasonable grounds.
 The commission has the power to secure compliance of its decisions from the public authority.
 It is the duty of the commission to receive and inquire into a complaint from any person
 During the inquiry of a complaint, the commission may examine any record which is under the
control of the public authority and no such record may be withheld from it on any grounds.

Appeal

Section 19 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 deals with the provision related to appeal. If
any person does not receive a decision for the complaint he/she made under Section 18 of the
Right to Information Act, 2005 or if that person is aggrieved by the decision of Public
Information Officer either at central or state level, can file an appeal to the senior officer in rank
to the Public Information Officer within thirty days from the date of such decision. If the person
still is not satisfied with the decision, he may file a second appeal to the Central Information
Commission or State Information Commission within ninety days from the date of such decision.
And the decision of the Central Information Commission and the State Information Commission
would be binding on the complainant.

Penalties

Section 20 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 deals with the provision related to penalties. If
the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission is of opinion that the
Public Information Officer either at central or state level, has not performed his duty and without
the reasonable cause, reject or refuse to entertain the application made by the complainant, or
with malafide intention reject or refuse the application made by the complainant, or intentionally
provide false, misleading and incomplete information, such officer shall be liable to pay a
penalty of Rs. 250 per day till the application is received or furnished and the Central
Information Commission or the State Information Commission may recommend disciplinary
action against such Public Information Officer either at central or state level.