CHAPTER II
Freedom of information and obligations of public authorities
Freedom of information. 3. Subject to the provisions of this Act, all citizens shall have freedom of information.
Obligations on public authorities. 4. Every public authority shall—
- (a) maintain all its records, in such manner and form as is consistent with its operational requirements duly catalogued and indexed;
- (b) publish at such intervals as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government or competent authority—
- (i) the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties;
- (ii) the powers and duties of its officers and employees and the procedure followed by them in the decision making process;
- (iii) the norms set by the public authority for the discharge of its functions;
- (iv) rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and other categories of records under its control used by its employees for discharging its functions;
- (v) the details of facilities available to citizens for obtaining information; and
- (vi) the name, designation and other particulars of the Public Information Officer;
- (c) publish all relevant facts concerning important decisions and policies that affect the public while announcing such decisions and policies;
- (d) give reasons for its decisions, whether administrative or quasi-judicial to those affected by such decisions;
- (e) before initiating any project, publish or communicate to the public generally or to the persons affected or likely to be affected by the project in particular, the facts available to it or to which it has reasonable access which in its opinion should be known to them in the best interests of natural justice and promotion of democratic principles.
Appointment of Public Information Officers. 5. (1) Every public authority shall for the purposes of this Act, appoint one or more officers as Public Information Officers.
(2) Every Public Information Officer shall deal with requests for information and shall render reasonable assistance to any person seeking such information.
(3) The Public Information Officer may seek the assistance of any other officer as he considers necessary for the proper discharge of his duties.
(4) Any officer whose assistance has been sought under sub-section (3), shall render all assistance to the Public Information Officer seeking his assistance.
Request for obtaining information. 6. A person desirous of obtaining information shall make a request in writing or through electronic means, to the concerned Public Information Officer specifying the particulars of the information sought by him:
Provided that where such request cannot be made in writing, the Public Information Officer shall render all reasonable assistance to the person making the request orally to reduce it in writing.
Disposal of requests. 7. (1) On receipt of a request under section 6, the Public Information Officer shall, as expeditiously as possible, and in any case within thirty days of the receipt of the request, either provide the information requested on payment of such fee as may be prescribed or reject the request for any of the reasons specified in sections 8 and 9:
