By Legum Pacific Editorial ·
A common situation
Suppose a tenant asks the municipal office for a copy of a building plan. The office does not reply for weeks. Or a shopkeeper is told the file is with another department and nothing happens. These are the everyday situations the law tries to deal with.
What does the law say?
The Act sets out how a person may request information from a public authority and what the authority must do when it gets a request. It requires a public authority to decide “as expeditiously as possible” and, in any case, within thirty days of receiving a request. If the information concerns the life or liberty of a person, it must be provided within forty-eight hours. If no decision is given within the time, the request is deemed to have been refused.
The Act lists specific kinds of information that need not be disclosed. These include material affecting the sovereignty and integrity of India, relations with foreign states, commercial confidence and trade secrets of third parties, personal information that has no public interest, and cabinet papers (with a provision that decisions of the Council of Ministers and reasons become public after the matter is complete). The law allows disclosure if the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the protected interest.
How do I seek information and what form must the request take?
A request may be made in writing or by electronic means in English, Hindi or the official language of the area where the request is made. The request must specify the particulars of the information sought. A prescribed fee may be payable.
If a person cannot make the request in writing, the public information officer must render all reasonable assistance to reduce the request into writing. An applicant does not have to give reasons for asking for information. The applicant only needs to provide contact details that are necessary for communication.
If the public authority that receives the request does not hold the information but another authority does, the first authority must transfer the request to the correct authority and inform the applicant. That transfer must be made as soon as practicable and in no case later than five days from receipt of the application.
Note: when a request or appeal is given to an Assistant Public Information Officer, an extra period of five days is added when computing the response time specified for the public information officer.
How long does the public authority have to reply, and what about fees?
The public information officer must decide on the request within thirty days, except where life or liberty is involved (forty-eight hours). If the officer decides to provide information but asks for further fees to meet the cost of providing the information, the time taken between sending that intimation and the applicant’s payment is excluded from the thirty-day period.
If a public authority fails to comply with the time limits, the requester must be provided the information free of charge. The Act also provides that fees prescribed must be reasonable and no fee shall be charged from persons below the poverty line, as the appropriate government determines.
What if information is refused or involves a third party?
If a request is rejected, the public information officer must give reasons for rejection, the period within which an appeal may be preferred, and the particulars of the appellate authority.
Where the requested information relates to or has been supplied by a third party and has been treated as confidential by that third party, the public information officer must, within five days from the receipt of the request, give a written notice to the third party and invite the third party to make a submission in writing or orally. The third party shall, within ten days from the date of receipt of such notice, be given the opportunity to make a representation against the proposed disclosure.
Notwithstanding anything contained in section 7, the public information officer shall, within forty days after receipt of the request under section 6, if the third party has been given an opportunity under sub-section (2), make a decision as to whether or not to disclose the information or record or part thereof and give in writing the notice of his decision to the third party.
If some parts of a record are exempt and other parts are not, the public information officer must, where possible, sever the exempt parts and provide access to the remainder. The applicant must be told which part is being supplied and the reasons for non-disclosure of the rest.
How are appeals handled and what can the Information Commission do?
If a person does not receive a decision within the time allowed, or is aggrieved by a decision of the public information officer, an appeal may be preferred to an officer senior in rank to the public information officer within thirty days of the expiry of the time or receipt of the decision. That officer may admit an appeal after thirty days if satisfied of sufficient cause.
A second appeal to the Information Commission may be made within ninety days from the date the decision should have been made or was actually received. The Commission may admit an appeal after ninety days for sufficient cause. The Commission must dispose of appeals within thirty days of receipt, or within an extended period not exceeding a total of forty-five days, for reasons recorded in writing.
In any appeal, the burden of proving that the denial of a request was justified rests on the public information officer. The Commission can require the public authority to provide information, change practices, publish information, train staff, compensate complainants, impose penalties on officers, or recommend disciplinary action. The Commission’s decision is binding.
The Act also provides a penalty where a public information officer, without reasonable cause, refused to receive an application, failed to furnish information within the time specified, malafidely denied a request, knowingly provided incorrect information, destroyed information which was the subject of the request or obstructed in furnishing information. The penalty is two hundred and fifty rupees for each day of delay, up to a maximum of twenty-five thousand rupees. The officer must be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard before any penalty is imposed.
Key points
- Requests may be in writing or electronically in English, Hindi or the local official language; assistance must be given if the request cannot be written. (Section 6)
- Decision must be made “as expeditiously as possible” and within 30 days; 48 hours if life or liberty is at stake. (Section 7)
- A public interest override can allow disclosure even where exemptions apply; some information older than 20 years is disclosable except where specific exemptions apply. (Section 8)
- Third parties get notice and ten days to make representations; if they are given that opportunity the officer must decide within forty days after receipt of the request and give written notice of the decision to the third party. (Section 11)
- First appeal to a senior officer within 30 days; second appeal to the Information Commission within 90 days; Commission decisions are binding and generally decided within 30–45 days. (Section 19)
- Penalties can be imposed on public information officers for unreasonable refusal or delay: Rs.250 per day up to Rs.25,000, and the Commission can recommend disciplinary action. (Section 20)
Laws referred to
- The Right to Information Act, 2005 — sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26
Official sources
This guide explains what the law itself says. Court rulings interpreting these provisions can also affect how they apply in a particular case. It states the position under the official texts listed above, as at 1 November 2026.