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