Delhi Right To Information Act

The Delhi Right to Information Act, 2001 became effective from 2nd October, 2001. Under this Act, any citizen can approach any state government department and seek any information with respect to the working of that department, inspect any files or take copies of any documents.

Salient Features of Delhi Right to Information Act

• 119 Departments of Delhi Government have been brought under the purview of the Act. In each Department, one senior officer has been designated as the competent authority under the Act to accept the request forms and to provide the information sought by the people.
• A citizen can also inspect any government work or take sample of material of any work under this Act.
• Any person seeking information under the Act can file an application in Form A to the Competent Authority.
• An application fee of Rs 25 per application has to be paid at the time of submitting application. In addition, a sum of Rs 5 per page is charged when information is supplied. For inspection of documents, a fee of Rs 15 is charged for every 15 minutes of inspection.
• The Government will make its endeavor to provide the information within 15 days subject to a maximum of 30 days.
• In case a person fails to get a response from the competent authority within 30 days of the submission of Form A or is aggrieved by the response received within the prescribed period, he may file an appeal to the Public Grievance Commission.
• The appeal to Public Grievance Commission is filed in Form E and an additional fee of Rs 25 is charged at the time of filing appeal.
• In case appeal is allowed, the information is to be supplied to the applicant by the competent authority within such period as ordered by the appellate authority. This period shall not exceed 30 days from the date of receipt of the order.
• Whosoever being bound to supply the information fails to furnish the information asked for under the Act within the time specified or fails to communicate the rejection order shall be liable to pay a penalty of Rs 50 per day for delayed period beyond the 30 days subject to a maximum of Rs 500 per application.
• In case the information supplied is found to be false in any material particular and which the person bound to supply it knows or has reasonable cause to believe it to be false or does not believe it to be true, the person supplying the information shall be liable to pay a penalty of Rs 1000 per application.