Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

The Government should come out with detailed guidelines regarding the protection available for copyrighted materials and intellectual property rights held by public authorities. If disclosure of building plans and designs affect the economic or security interests of the State in a prejudicial manner then such information falls under Section 8(1)(a). But if the PIO is able to justify before the concerned appellate authority that s/he had provided reasons for denying access to such plans, no penalty will be imposed. The appellate authority is appointed precisely to give quasi-judicial decisions on the finer points of the law. Therefore, if the PIO has taken action in good faith the appellate authority may not impose a penalty even if it decides in favour of disclosing such plans and designs.

No. Proactive disclosure of information could be made possible through various print and electronic means. It may be disseminated in one or a series of documents in print. They could all be uploaded on the website of the concerned department. Certain categories of information such as the name and designation of the officers concerned in each office, broad norms of service etc., may be put up on notice boards. Information regarding beneficiaries of various development schemes, concessions and permits may be published from time to time on the website.

Updating of information is very important under Section 4 of the RTI Act. This is a statutory requirement. The State Government will have to come out with general instructions for time-bound updating of all categories of information. Every public authority may ,in turn, issue detailed instructions for updating information that is specific to its functions. For example, information on subsidy schemes (see Sec.4(xii)) needs to be published and updated regularly if it is to be useful in terms of enabling the public to verify whether they are receiving proper subsidies and ensure that corruption is minimized.