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21 |
Protection of
action taken in good faith. |
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No suit,
prosecution or other legal proceeding shall
lie against any person for anything which is
in good faith done or intended to be done
under this Act or any rule made thereunder. |
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22 |
Act to have
overriding effet |
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The provisions
of this Act shall have effect
notwithstanding anything inconsistent
therewith contained in the Official Secrets
Act, 1923, and any other law for the time
being in force or in any instrument having
effect by virtue of any law other than this
Act. |
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23 |
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No court shall
entertain any suit, application or other
proceeding in respect of any order made
under this Act and no such order shall be
called in question otherwise than by way of
an appeal under this Act. |
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24 |
(1) |
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Nothing
contained in this Act shall apply to the
intelligence and security organisations
specified in the Second Schedule, being
organisations established by the Central
Government or any information furnished by
such organisations to that Government: |
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Provided that
the information pertaining to the
allegations of corruption and human rights
violations shall not be excluded under this
sub-section: |
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Provided
further that in the case of information
sought for is in respect of allegations of
violation of human rights, the information
shall only be provided after the approval of
the Central Information Commission, and
notwithstanding anything contained in
section 7, such information shall be
provided within forty-five days from the
date of the receipt of request. |
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(2) |
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The Central
Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, amend the Schedule by
including therein any other intelligence or
security organisation established by that
Government or omitting therefrom any
organisation already specified therein and
on the publication of such notification,
such organisation shall be deemed to be
included in or, as the case may be, omitted
from the Schedule. |
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(3) |
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Every
notification issued under sub-section (2)
shall be laid before each House of
Parliament. |
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(4) |
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Nothing
contained in this Act shall apply to such
intelligence and security organisation being
organisations established by the State
Government, as that Government may, from
time to time, by notification in the
Official Gazette, specify: |
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Provided that
the information pertaining to the
allegations of corruption and human rights
violations shall not be excluded under this
sub-section: |
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Provided
further that in the case of information
sought for is in respect of allegations of
violation of human rights, the information
shall only be provided after the approval of
the State Information Commission and,
notwithstanding anything contained in
section 7, such information shall be
provided within forty-five days from the
date of the receipt of request. |
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(5) |
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Every
notification issued under sub-section (4)
shall be laid before the State Legislature. |
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25 |
(1) |
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The Central
Information Commission or State Information
Commission, as the case may be, shall, as
soon as practicable after the end of each
year, prepare a report on the implementation
of the provisions of this Act during that
year and forward a copy thereof to the
appropriate Government. |
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(2) |
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Each Ministry
or Department shall, in relation to the
public authorities within their
jurisdiction, collect and provide such
information to the Central Information
Commission or State Information Commission,
as the case may be, as is required to
prepare the report under this section and
comply with the requirements concerning the
furnishing of that information and keeping
of records for the purposes of this section. |
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(3) |
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Each report
shall state in respect of the year to which
the report relates,— |
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(a) |
the number of
requests made to each public authority; |
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(b) |
the number of
decisions where applicants were not entitled
to access to the documents pursuant to the
requests, the provisions of this Act under
which these decisions were made and the
number of times such provisions were
invoked; |
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(c) |
the number of
appeals referred to the Central Information
Commission or State Information Commission,
as the case may be, for review, the nature
of the appeals and the outcome of the
appeals; |
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(d) |
particulars of
any disciplinary action taken against any
officer in respect of the administration of
this Act; |
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(e) |
the amount of
charges collected by each public authority
under this Act; |
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(f) |
any facts
which indicate an effort by the public
authorities to administer and implement the
spirit and intention of this Act; |
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(g) |
recommendations for reform, including
recommendations in respect of the particular
public authorities, for the development,
improvement, modernisation, reform or
amendment to this Act or other legislation
or common law or any other matter relevant
for operationalising the right to access
information. |
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(4) |
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The Central
Government or the State Government, as the
case may be, may, as soon as practicable
after the end of each year, cause a copy of
the report of the Central Information
Commission or the State Information
Commission, as the case may be, referred to
in sub-section (1) to be laid before each
House of Parliament or, as the case may be,
before each House of the State Legislature,
where there are two Houses, and where there
is one House of the State Legislature before
that House. |
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(5) |
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If it appears
to the Central Information Commission or
State Information Commission, as the case
may be, that the practice of a public
authority in relation to the exercise of its
functions under this Act does not conform
with the provisions or spirit of this Act,
it may give to the authority a
recommendation specifying the steps which
ought in its opinion to be taken for
promoting such conformity. |
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26 |
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(1) |
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The
appropriate Government may, to the extent of
availability of financial and other
resources,— |
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(a) |
develop and
organise educational programmes to advance
the understanding of the public, in
particular of disadvantaged communities as
to how to exercise the rights contemplated
under this Act; |
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(b) |
encourage
public authorities to participate in the
development and organisation of programmes
referred to in clause (a) and to undertake
such programmes themselves; |
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(c) |
promote timely
and effective dissemination of accurate
information by public authorities about
their activities; and |
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(d) |
train Central
Public Information Officers or State Public
Information Officers, as the case may be, of
public authorities and produce relevant
training materials for use by the public
authorities themselves. |
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(2) |
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The
appropriate Government shall, within
eighteen months from the commencement of
this Act, compile in its official language a
guide containing such information, in an
easily comprehensible form and manner, as
may reasonably be required by a person who
wishes to exercise any right specified in
this Act. |
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(3) |
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The
appropriate Government shall, if necessary,
update and publish the guidelines referred
to in sub-section (2) at regular intervals
which shall, in particular and without
prejudice to the generality of sub-section
(2), include— |
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(a) |
the objects
of this Act; |
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(b) |
the postal and
street address, the phone and fax number
and, if available, electronic mail address
of the Central Public Information Officer or
State Public Information Officer, as the
case may be, of every public authority
appointed under sub-section (1) of section
5; |
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(c) |
the manner and
the form in which request for access to an
information shall be made to a Central
Public Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer, as the case may be; |
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(d) |
the assistance
available from and the duties of the Central
Public Information Officer or State Public
Information Officer, as the case may be, of
a public authority under this Act; |
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(e) |
the
assistance available from the Central
Information Commission or State Information
Commission, as the case may be; |
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(f) |
all remedies
in law available regarding an act or failure
to act in respect of a right or duty
conferred or imposed by this Act including
the manner of filing an appeal to the
Commission; |
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(g) |
the provisions
providing for the voluntary disclosure of
categories of records in accordance with
section 4; |
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(h) |
the notices
regarding fees to be paid in relation to
requests for access to an information; and |
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(i) |
any additional
regulations or circulars made or issued in
relation to obtaining access to an
information in accordance with this Act. |
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(4) |
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The
appropriate Government must, if necessary,
update and publish the guidelines at regular
intervals. |
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27 |
(1) |
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The
appropriate Government may, by notification
in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry
out the provisions of this Act. |
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(2) |
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In particular,
and without prejudice to the generality of
the foregoing power, such rules may provide
for all or any of the following matters,
namely:— |
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(a) |
the cost of
the medium or print cost price of the
materials to be disseminated under
sub-section (4) of section 4; |
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(b) |
the fee
payable under sub-section (1) of section 6; |
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(c) |
the fee
payable under sub-sections (1) and (5) of
section 7; |
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(d) |
the salaries
and allowances payable to and the terms and
conditions of service of the officers and
other employees under sub-section (6) of
section 13 and sub-section (6) of section
16; |
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(e) |
the procedure
to be adopted by the Central Information
Commission or State Information Commission,
as the case may be, in deciding the appeals
under sub-section (10) of section 19; and |
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(f) |
any other
matter which is required to be, or may be,
prescribed. |
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28 |
(1) |
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The competent
authority may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, make rules to carry out
the provisions of this Act. |
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(2) |
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In particular,
and without prejudice to the generality of
the foregoing power, such rules may provide
for all or any of the following matters,
namely:— |
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(i) |
the cost of
the medium or print cost price of the
materials to be disseminated under
sub-section (4) of section 4; |
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(ii) |
the fee
payable under sub-section (1) of section 6; |
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(iii) |
the fee
payable under sub-section (1) of section 7;
and |
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(iv) |
any other
matter which is required to be, or may be,
prescribed. |
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29 |
(1) |
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Every rule
made by the Central Government under this
Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after
it is made, before each House of Parliament,
while it is in session, for a total period
of thirty days which may be comprised in one
session or in two or more successive
sessions, and if, before the expiry of the
session immediately following the session or
the successive sessions aforesaid, both
Houses agree in making any modification in
the rule or both Houses agree that the rule
should not be made, the rule shall
thereafter have effect only in such modified
form or be of no effect, as the case may be;
so, however, that any such modification or
annulment shall be without prejudice to the
validity of anything previously done under
that rule. |
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(2) |
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Every rule
made under this Act by a State Government
shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is
notified, before the State Legislature. |
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30 |
(1) |
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If any
difficulty arises in giving effect to the
provisions of this Act, the Central
Government may, by order published in the
Official Gazette, make such provisions not
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act
as appear to it to be necessary or expedient
for removal of the difficulty: |
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Provided that
no such order shall be made after the expiry
of a period of two years from the date of
the commencement of this Act. |
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(2) |
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Every order
made under this section shall, as soon as
may be after it is made, be laid before each
House of Parliament. |
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31 |
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The Freedom of
Information Act, 2002 is hereby repealed. |
