RTI Act 2005, CPGRAMS, and Official Language Rules

Core Principle/Rule: The Right to Information Act imposes strict, legally binding deadlines on Public Information Officers to provide information or reject requests.

Key Facts:

• Standard Timeline: A PIO must supply information within 30 days of receiving the application.
• Life and Liberty: Information concerning the life or liberty of a person must be provided within 48 hours.
• Transfer of Application: If submitted to an Assistant PIO or transferred to another public authority, 5 days are added to the standard timeline, making 35 days.
• Third-Party Information: Where a third party must be consulted, the timeline extends to 40 days.

Core Principle/Rule: Section 8(1) lists information exempt from disclosure to balance transparency with national security, legal integrity, and privacy.

Key Facts:

• Cabinet Papers: Records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries, and other officers are exempt. However, the decisions, reasons, and supporting material must be made public after the decision is taken and the matter is complete.
• Fiduciary Relationships: Information held in a fiduciary relationship—such as doctor–patient or lawyer–client—is exempt unless there is a larger public interest.
• The 20-Year Rule: Information older than 20 years must generally be provided even where it falls under certain exemptions, although national-security and cabinet-paper exemptions still hold.

Core Principle/Rule: The Act creates a mandatory two-tier appellate mechanism for citizens denied information or given unsatisfactory replies.

Key Facts:

• First Appeal: File within 30 days of the decision or expiry of the time limit to the First Appellate Authority, an officer senior in rank to the PIO in the same department.
• Second Appeal: File within 90 days of the FAA’s decision to the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as jurisdiction requires.
• Burden of Proof: The burden of proving that denial was justified rests entirely on the PIO who denied the request.

Core Principle/Rule: CPGRAMS is an online platform for citizens to lodge service-delivery complaints, operating within strict administrative boundaries defining a valid grievance.

Key Facts:

• The standard timeline for resolving a CPGRAMS grievance is 30 days.
• Strict Exclusions: These matters are not taken up:

• Sub-judice cases or matters pending in courts.
• Personal and family disputes.
• RTI matters, which have their own appellate mechanism.
• Anything affecting territorial integrity or friendly relations with foreign states.
• Suggestions or demands for financial assistance.

Core Principle/Rule: For implementing official-language policy, India’s states and Union Territories are classified into three linguistic regions that determine the mandatory language of official correspondence.

Key Facts:

• Region A — Hindi Speaking: Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and NCT of Delhi. Central-office communications to these states must be in Hindi.
• Region B: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli. Communications should ordinarily be in Hindi, unless the state has demanded otherwise.
• Region C: All other states and UTs not in A or B, primarily the South, East and North-East. Communications are strictly in English.
• The Reply Rule: Regardless of region, if an application, appeal, or representation is received or signed in Hindi, the reply must be sent in Hindi.