Results of the Global RTI Rating for India

http://www.law-democracy.org/?page_id=1114

Results of the Global RTI Rating for India

General information


Country: India

Name of the law and link: The Right to Information Act

Person in charge: Michael Karanicolas
Expert Reviewers: Venkatesh Nayak and Anjali Bhardwaj

Comments: India has long been recognized as one of the most advanced
countries in the world when it comes to access to information, but its
failure to top this ranking is demonstrative that global standards of
the right to access have advanced considerably since India's law was
first passed. This is not to say that India's legal framework is bad.
As this score indicates, it remains one of the top countries in the
world, but there are several problems with India's access regime.
Chief among these are the blanket exceptions in Schedule 2 for various
security, intelligence, research and economic institutes. Instead of
such broad and sweeping exclusions, these interests should be
protected by individual and harm-tested exceptions. The Indian legal
framework also does not allow access to information held by private
entities which perform a public function, and several of the law's
exclusions, including for information received in confidence from a
foreign government, cabinet papers and parliamentary privilege, are
also problematic.


Score: 130

Section Max Points Score
1. Right of Access 6 5
2. Scope 30 25
3. Requesting Procedures 30 27
4. Exceptions and Refusals 30 26
5. Appeals 30 29
6. Sanctions and Protections 8 5
7. Promotional Measures 16 13
Total score 150 130



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