{"id":14341,"date":"2019-03-05T18:52:12","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T13:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterslice.com\/learning\/?p=14341"},"modified":"2020-08-28T15:42:46","modified_gmt":"2020-08-28T10:12:46","slug":"exemption-under-rti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterslice.com\/learning\/exemption-under-rti\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Information Exempted Under RTI Act, 2005"},"content":{"rendered":"
Right to\nInformation (RTI) Act, 2005 states that any citizen of India can demand or ask\nabout information from the Public Authority and the authority have to reply\nwithin the 30 days. However, there are certain cases where government does not\npass the information to the citizen of India. These are basically called the\nexemptions under RTI. Sometimes people ask for information that may cause more\nharm than the benefit of interest. So government denies the citizen to access\nthat information. In this blog we will talk about all the exemption under RTI\nin detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why you must know about Exemptions under RTI?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Exemptions under RTI serves an effective purpose, however there are examples where these exemptions have often been abused by the officials in order to keep their interest hidden and away from public. This is not ethical at all. Any department cannot deny or keep the information secretive, just because it may affect the image of government and the officials working for them. It is very important for you to have a better understanding of the Exemptions under RTI. Let’s try to find these exemptions below-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
List of Exemptions under RTI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
These are all the exemptions under RTI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Let’s try to\nunderstand these exemptions in detail:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Information that cause threat to national\nsecurity or sovereignty<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Government will\nnot provide any information to the general public that may cause harm to the\nsociety or become a threat to our security. For example if there is a conflict,\nthen it will not seem appropriate to furnish the information regarding the\nnumber of soldiers, their location and strategies etc. However, at the same\ntime if somebody wants to know about the price involved in the aircraft deal,\nthen this information cannot be denied on the pretext of protecting the\ninformation relating to defense. Price of aircraft is just common commercial\ninformation which should be made public to reduce the likelihood of corruption\nand must not be withheld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Information related to the National Economic\nInterest<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In Exemption under RTI, government do not\ndisclose any information regarding the currency, interest rates, exchange\nrates, taxes, the regulation or supervision of banking, insurance and other\nfinancial institutions, proposal for expenditure or borrowing and foreign\ninvestment may cause harm to the national economy of our country, especially if\nthe government release the premature information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But government\nmust not withhold contracts and departmental budgets that contain lower level\nof economic and financial information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harm the relation of two foreign nations<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The relation of\ntwo nations can be very sensitive and fragile. Investigating other countries’\nactivities and candidly intrude into their private matters have to tendency to\nharm the relation between the nations. However, just to protect this interest,\ngovernment cannot keep the political deals (which are not public) between\nplayers; away from citizens of India. Government cannot justify such\nNon-disclosures and term it as a breach of national law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In case of the Enforcement of law and the\njudicial process<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
If there is case\nunderway, in which the information needs to be protected. For example in most\nof the cases, if the information such as identity of witness is released then\nit could expose the case to danger. So, government finds it very important to\nkeep such information secretive. There are discussions between a lawyer and\ntheir clients which cannot be made public. However, in order to protect these\ninterests you cannot be denied a right to know whether police and other\njudicial conduct the proper research or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Documents regarding the cabinet and other\ndecision-making documents<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
There are cabinet\npapers and other records of deliberation of the council of ministers,\nsecretaries, and other offices. But once the decisions are made, the reasons\nbehind the decision and documents should be made public. During the process of\ndecision making, there is a need to keep the matters confidential. Once the\ngovernment has taken the decision, common citizens have the right to access the\nrelevant information. Public also access these cabinet papers and other records\nof deliberation of the council just for the better understanding of policy\nmaking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In case of Trade secrets and Commercial\nConfidentiality<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
If the\ninformation is related to the provision of a public service or something in\nrelation to the exercise or protection of right, then the information of\nprivate companies must be made open to public. But the companies must be able\nto protect their trade secrets. This helps companies to mitigate the risk to\ntheir company’s competitive commercial interest. However, in order to save\ntheir interests companies they must not hold back the release of their\ncontracts with private bodies who deliver services to public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Protecting the safety of an Individual<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Any information\nthat has a tendency to put somebody’s safety a risk must not be revealed. For\nexample if there is a whistle blower, who has helped in the identification of\ncorrupts in an organization then their identity must be protected. Because\nsomebody blows a whistle against somebody then there is a risk of that person\nto be a target, face discrimination or violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Information related to personal privacy<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Our Government\nkeeps lots of individuals’ important information and also makes sure that this\npiece of information must not be made public. For example hospitals have\nindividuals’ medical reports and cannot be made public to anybody. However,\nthese organizations cannot use this to protect their own conduct. Information\nsuch as public transfers and appointments must be made public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Example of Exemption under RTI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Let us now try to\ndiscuss the above case in detail<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When CBI asked to reveal\nthe Information on Corruption Case<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Exemptions](\"https:\/\/enterslice.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/rti.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Example](\"https:\/\/enterslice.com\/learning\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/rti-1.png\")
<\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n