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1 |
Short title , extent and commencement |
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(1) |
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This Act may be
called the Right to Information Act, 2005. |
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(2) |
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It extends to the
whole of India except the State of Jammu and
Kashmir. |
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(3) |
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The provisions of
sub-section (1) of section 4,
sub-sections (1) and (2) of
section 5, sections 12, 13, 15,16, 24 , 27 and
28 shall come into force at once, and the
remaining provisions of this Act shall come into
force on the one hundred and twentieth day of
its enactment. |
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2 |
Definitions |
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In this Act,
unless the context otherwise requires,— |
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(a) |
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"appropriate
Government" means in relation to a public
authority which is established, constituted,
owned, controlled or substantially financed by
funds provided directly or indirectly— |
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(i) |
by the Central
Government or the Union territory
administration, the Central Government; |
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(ii) |
by the State
Government, the State Government; |
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(b) |
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"Central
Information Commission" means the Central
Information Commission constituted under
sub-section (1) of section 12; |
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(c) |
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"Central Public
Information Officer" means the Central Public
Information Officer designated under sub-section
(1) and includes a Central Assistant
Public Information Officer designated as such
under sub-section (2) of section 5; |
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(d) |
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"Chief Information
Commissioner" and "Information Commissioner"
mean the Chief Information Commissioner and
Information Commissioner appointed under
sub-section (3) of section 12; |
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(e) |
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"competent
authority" means— |
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(i) |
the Speaker in the
case of the House of the People or the
Legislative Assembly of a State or a Union
territory having such Assembly and the Chairman
in the case of the Council of States or
Legislative Council of a State; |
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(ii) |
the Chief Justice
of India in the case of the Supreme Court; |
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(iii) |
the Chief Justice
of the High Court in the case of a High Court; |
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(iv) |
the President or
the Governor, as the case may be, in the case of
other authorities established or constituted by
or under the Constitution; |
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(v) |
the administrator
appointed under article 239 of the Constitution; |
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(f) |
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"information"
means any material in any form, including
records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions,
advices, press releases, circulars, orders,
logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples,
models, data material held in any electronic
form and information relating to any private
body which can be accessed by a public authority
under any other law for the time being in force |
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(g) |
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"prescribed" means
prescribed by rules made under this Act by the
appropriate Government or the competent
authority, as the case may be; |
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(h) |
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"public authority"
means any authority or body or institution of
self- government established or constituted— |
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(a) |
by or under the
Constitution; |
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(b) |
by any other law
made by Parliament; |
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(c) |
by any other law
made by State Legislature; |
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(d) |
by notification
issued or order made by the appropriate
Government, and includes any— |
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(i) |
body owned,
controlled or substantially financed; |
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(ii) |
non-Government
organization substantially financed, directly or
indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate
Government; |
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(i) |
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"record" includes— |
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(a) |
any document,
manuscript and file; |
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(b) |
any microfilm,
microfiche and facsimile copy of a document; |
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(c) |
any reproduction
of image or images embodied in such microfilm
(whether enlarged or not); and |
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(d) |
any other material
produced by a computer or any other device; |
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(j) |
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"right to
information" means the right to information
accessible under this Act which is held by or
under the control of any public authority and
includes the right to— |
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(i) |
inspection of
work, documents, records; |
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(ii) |
taking notes,
extracts or certified copies of documents or
records; |
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(iii) |
taking certified
samples of material; |
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(iv) |
obtaining
information in the form of diskettes, floppies,
tapes, video cassettes or in any other
electronic mode or through printouts where such
information is stored in a computer or in any
other device; |
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(k) |
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"State
Information Commission" means the State
Information Commission constituted under
sub-section (1) of section 15; |
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(l) |
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"State Chief
Information Commissioner" and "State Information
Commissioner" mean the State Chief Information
Commissioner and the State Information
Commissioner appointed under sub-section (3)
of section 15; |
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(m) |
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"State Public
Information Officer" means the State Public
Information Officer designated under sub-section
(1) and includes a State Assistant Public
Information Officer designated as such under
sub-section (2) of section 5; |
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(n) |
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"third party"
means a person other than the citizen making a
request for information and includes a public
authority. |
