Definition
A law enacted in 2005 that gives every citizen the right to request information from public authorities, which must reply within set time limits, subject to specified exemptions.
Background and evolution
The right to information grew from a grassroots struggle. In the early 1990s the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) in rural Rajasthan, led by Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh, organised public hearings (jan sunwais) where villagers compared official records of wages and works with what had actually happened. They discovered fake muster rolls and non-existent projects. Their slogan, "hamara paisa, hamara hisaab" (our money, our accounts), turned access to records into a mass demand.
The Supreme Court had already held, in cases such as State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain (1975) and S.P. Gupta (1981), that the right to know is part of freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a). Several states, including Tamil Nadu, Goa, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, passed their own laws. A weak central Freedom of Information Act was passed in 2002 but never notified. The National Advisory Council and civil society campaigns pushed for a stronger law, and the Right to Information Act was passed in 2005, replacing the 2002 Act.
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