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36-613: The Central Information Commission is a statutory body, set up under the Right to Information Act in 2005 under the Government of India to act upon complaints from those individuals who have not been able to submit information requests to a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer due to either the officer not have been appointed, or because the respective Central Assistant Public Information Officer or State Assistant Public Information Officer refused to receive

72-647: A Fundamental Right in the Constitution of India , it protects the fundamental rights to Freedom of Expression and Speech under Article 19(1)(a) and Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 guaranteed by the Constitution. The authorities under RTI Act 2005 are called public authorities. The Public Information Officer (PIO) or the First Appellate Authority in the public authorities perform quasi judicial function of deciding on

108-484: A ban on filing RTI inquiries took place, noted NGO Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel, also stating that no provision in the act allowed for the blacklisting of applicants. Scholars argue that the Right to Information Act's original intent to make government transparent and accountable is faltering as RTI requests are rejected and the bureaucratic systems are bogged down by thousands of requests. Many RTIs are rejected because

144-577: A broad range of social issues, including "land and environmental rights, social security benefits, the working of financial institutions, political party financing reform, civic infrastructure, and even public-private partnerships". As per section 24 of the Act, intelligence and security organisations, both central and state, are exempted from the RTI Act except in cases of corruption or human rights violation. Such central organisations are listed in schedule 2 of

180-475: Is administered by President of India. The following have held the post of the chief Information Commissioners. Following is the list of State Information Commissions. Right to Information Act The Right to Information ( RTI ) is an act of the Parliament of India & Delhi Legislative Assembly which sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens' right to access information. It replaced

216-428: 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". Private bodies are not within the act's purview. In a decision of Sarbjit Roy vs Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission ,

252-463: Is made up of a State Chief Information Commissioner (SCIC) and up to 10 State Information Commissioners (SIC). The Governor appoints the members of the SIC on the recommendation of a committee. Public authorities and government departments are required to appoint a State Public Information Officer (SPIO) and an appellate authority. The SPIO is the initial point of contact for citizens seeking information under

288-517: Is the initial contact for citizens who request information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. If a citizen is dissatisfied with the response provided by the State Public Information Officer (SPIO), they may file an appeal with the designated Appellate Authority. The State Information Commission (SIC) is an autonomous body, that is established by state governments to ensure the public's right to information. The SIC

324-648: The Central Information Commission also reaffirmed that privatised public utility companies fall within the purview of RTI. As of 2014, private institutions and NGOs receiving over 95% of their infrastructure funds from the government come under the Act. The Central Information Commission (CIC) held that the political parties are public authorities and are answerable to citizens under the RTI Act. The CIC said that eight national parties - Congress , BJP , NCP , CPI(M) , CPI , BSP , NPP and AITC - has been substantially funded indirectly by

360-636: The Act. The schedule has been amended four times, in September 2005, March 2008, October 2008 and May 2021. Delhi Vidyut Board The position is that as per available records, the first diesel Power Station was established in Delhi in the year 1905 when a private English Company by name M/s. John Fleming was given permission to generate electricity under the provisions of the Indian Electricity Act 1903. The above-mentioned Company

396-576: The Central Government and have the character of public authorities under the RTI Act as they perform public functions. But in August 2013 the government introduced a Right To Information (Amendment) Bill which would remove political parties from the scope of the law. Currently no parties are under the RTI Act and a case has been filed for bringing all political parties under it. The Right to Information Act 2019 passed on 25 July 2019 modified

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432-720: The Delhi High Court bringing the office of Chief Justice of India under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Right to information in India is governed by two major bodies: Chief Information commissioner who heads all the central departments and ministries- with their own public Information officers (PIO)s. CICs are directly under the President of India. The public authorities and departure under Union government of India are required to designate Central Public Information Officer and appellate authority. The CPIO

468-735: The National Capital Territory of Delhi vide notification No. F.11 (10)/92-LSG /PF (II) dated 24.02.1997, issued under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948, constituted a separate Electricity Board, i.e. the Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB) for the NCT of Delhi w.e.f. 24.02.1997 for the purpose of generation and distribution of power to the entire area of NCT of Delhi except the areas falling within the jurisdiction of NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board. The Delhi Vidyut Board (DVB)

504-813: The Notified Area Committees of Red fort, Civil Lines, Mehrauli, Najaf Garh, and the District Board of Delhi. The supply of electricity to the Municipal Committees of Delhi-Shahdara and the Notified Area of Narela was done by different private agencies. In 1947 DCEPA took over a Private Limited Company by name Delhi electric Supply & traction Company Limited. In the year 1951 the Delhi State Electricity Board (DSEB) came into existence and

540-538: The Right to Information (RTI) Act. If a citizen is dissatisfied with the SPIO's response, they can file an appeal with the appellate authority. As a final recourse, citizens can appeal to the State Information Commission.. The SPIO office is directly under the corresponding State Governor. State Information Commissions are independent bodies and Central Information Commission has no jurisdiction over

576-553: The State Information Commission. List of SICs: A citizen who desires to seek some information from a public authority is required to send, along with the application (a Postal order or DD ( Demand draft ) or a bankers cheque) or a court stamp payable to the Accounts Officer of the public authority as fee prescribed for seeking information. If the person is from a disadvantaged community, he/she need not pay. The applicant may also be required to pay further fee towards

612-453: The acts and functionaries of the public authorities. There is a consensus felt that there is a need to amend the RTI Act to provide for the protection of those seeking information under the Act . The Asian Centre for Human Rights recommends that a separate chapter, "Protection of those seeking information under the (RTI) Act", be inserted into the Act. Protection measures suggested include: Many civil society members have recently alleged

648-460: The age of 65, whichever is earlier). Finally in Ashwanee K. Singh's case on 20 September 2020, it is stabilised that right to information is a fundamental right. The Act extends to the whole of India. 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

684-644: The application and appeal respectively. This act was enacted in order to consolidate the fundamental right in the Indian constitution 'freedom of speech'. Since RTI is implicit in the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, it is an implied fundamental right. Information disclosure in India had traditionally been restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various other special laws, which

720-812: The application for information under the Right to Information Act. The commission includes one chief information commissioner and not more than ten information commissioners who are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister as chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister. Two women have been chief information commissioners: Deepak Sandhu (fourth chief information commissioner overall) and Sushma Singh (fifth overall).The oath to CIC

756-581: The bureaucratic requirements (including the technocratic language used) of filing are too onerous and legalistic for ordinary citizens. Sixty percent of the RTI appeals made to Information Commissioners in Delhi are rejected for a variety of reasons, including that appeals are not typed or not written in English, or lack an index of the papers attached or a list of date. This bureaucratic barrier, worse for those without access to higher education or information, makes

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792-399: The citizens need minimum recourse to request information formally. The RTI Bill was passed by Parliament of India on 15 June 2005 and came into force with effect from 12 October 2005. Every day on average, over 4800 RTI applications are filed. In the first ten years of the commencement of the act, over 17,500,000 applications had been filed. Although Right to Information is not included as

828-488: The constitution of an Electricity Regulatory Commission, unbundling of DVB into separate generation, transmission and distribution companies and increasing avenues for participation of private sector. This was followed with a Tripartite Agreement which was signed by the government of Delhi, DVB employees to ensure the cooperation of stakeholders in this reform process. Next, a two-stage competitive bidding process of Request for Qualification (RFQ) and Request for Proposal (RFP)

864-515: The cost of providing the information, details of which shall be intimated to the applicant by the PIO (Public Information Officer) as prescribed by the RTI ACT. A digital portal has been set up, RTI Portal , a gateway to the citizens for quick search of information on the details of first Appellate Authorities, PIOs etc. amongst others, besides access to RTI related information disclosures published on

900-554: The former Freedom of Information Act, 2000. Under the provisions of RTI Act, any citizen of India may request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or "instrumentality of State") which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days. In case of the matter involving a petitioner's life and liberty, the information has to be provided within 48 hours. The Act also requires every public authority to computerize their records for wide dissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that

936-544: The new RTI Act overrides. Right to Information codifies a fundamental right of the citizens of India. RTI has proven to be very useful, but is counteracted by the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 . The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2019, seeks to amend Sections 13, 16, and 27 of the RTI Act. Section 13 of the original Act: It sets the term of the central Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners at five years (or until

972-588: The responsibility of generation and distribution of electricity was taken over by DSEB from DCEPA. After the promulgation of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957, the DSEB was dissolved and the functions of DSEB were taken over by Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU), which came into existence in 1958. After the formation DESU, the generation and distribution of electricity to all the areas of Delhi came under DESU. The Government of

1008-486: The right to information inaccessible. Many citizens have to seek out NGOs, RTI activists, or lawyers, to file their RTIs. Many activists view the Right to Information Act as a final liberation from British colonialism; they describe the RTI law as "a tool for empowering ordinary citizens and changing the culture of governance by making it transparent, less corrupt, participatory, and accountable". They also note that RTI requests provide strategy and substance for activists on

1044-488: The state hampered the citizen's right to know. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) data points to over 310 cases across India where people were either attacked, physically or mentally harassed or had their property damaged because of the information they sought under RTI. The data throws up over 50 alleged murders and two suicides that were directly linked with RTI applications filed. R.T.I. Act 2005 applies to both central as well as state governments. It also covers

1080-469: The subversion of the right to information Act by the invocation of Intellectual Property rights argument by the government agencies from time to time. Most notable are: Gujarat State Information Commission banned 10 people from filing RTI queries, citing that these people were "harassing government officials" by filing multiple queries with "malafide intentions". This was the first time in Gujarat that

1116-448: The terms and conditions of service of the CIC and Information Commissioners at the centre and in states. It had been criticized as watering down the independence of the information commissions, namely by empowering the government to fix the term of service and salaries of information commissioners. Supreme Court judgement Supreme Court of India on 13 November 2019, upheld the decision of

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1152-614: The web by various Public Authorities under the government of India as well as the State Governments. It is an initiative taken by Department of Personnel and Training , Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions . The Right to information in India has been mired with controversies ranging from their use in political battles, asking for educational degrees of political rivals, or cases of blatant refusals to provide information on high-profile projects to allegations of misuse by civil society. The backlash against RTI by

1188-439: The year 1932, the management of Central Power House was handed over to New Delhi Municipal Committee (NDMC). In the field of power generation and distribution, a major break through was achieved in 1939 when Delhi Central Electricity Power Authority (DCEPA) was established. This company was responsible for the supply of power to the areas covered by Local Bodies, namely, the Municipal Committees of Delhi, West Delhi and South Delhi,

1224-680: Was a State Electricity Board set up in 1997 under the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948, succeeding the Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking (DESU) which has existed since 1957 as a wing of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. It was an integrated utility with generation, transmission and distribution functions serving all of Delhi except the NDMC and MES (Cantoment) areas to which it supplied power in bulk. Delhi Electricity Board Regulatory Commission (DERC)

1260-597: Was constituted in May 1999 whose prime responsibility was to look into the entire gamut of existing activity and search for various ways of power sector reforms. The DERC is even today a fully functional body which has since issued tariff orders for annual revenue requirement. Delhi Electricity Reform Ordinance, 2000 was a body which was promulgated in October 2000 and notified in the form of an Act in March 2001. It mainly provides for

1296-530: Was given the responsibility both of generation and distribution of power in a limited manner. That Company after obtaining license under the provisions of Electricity Act 1903 had set up a small 2 MW Diesel set at Lahori Gate in Old Delhi. Later on, this very Company was converted as Delhi Electricity Supply and Traction Company. In the Year 1911, the power generation was augmented by Steam Generation Station. In

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