Section 2 of RTI Act : Section 2: Definitions

Bare Act

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -

1. "appropriate Government" means in relation to a public authority which is established, constituted, owned, controlled or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly -
   1. by the Central Government or the Union territory administration, the Central Government;
   2. by the State Government, the State Government;
2. "Central Information Commission" means the Central Information Commission constituted under sub-section (1) of section 12;
3. "Central Public Information Officer" means the Central Public Information Officer designated under sub-section (1) and includes a Central Assistant Public Information Officer designated as such under sub-section (2) of section 5;
4. "Chief Information Commissioner" and "Information Commissioner" mean the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioner appointed under sub-section (3) of section 12;
5. "competent authority" means -
   1. the Speaker in the case of the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of a State or a Union territory having such Assembly and the Chairman in the case of the Council of States or Legislative Council of a State;
   2. the Chief Justice of India in the case of the Supreme Court;
   3. the Chief Justice of the High Court in the case of a High Court;
   4. the President or the Governor, as the case may be, in the case of other authorities established or constituted by or under the Constitution;
   5. the administrator appointed under article 239 of the Constitution;
6. "information" means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force;
7. "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act by the appropriate Government or the competent authority, as the case may be;
8. "public authority" means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted -
   1. by or under the Constitution;
   2. by any other law made by Parliament;
   3. by any other law made by State Legislature;
   4. by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any -
   5. body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
   6. non-Government organisation substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government;
9. "record" includes -
   1. any document, manuscript and file;
   2. any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile copy of a document;
   3. any reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm (whether enlarged or not); and
   4. any other material produced by a computer or any other device;
10. "right to information" means the right to information accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the right to -
    1. inspection of work, documents, records;
    2. taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;
    3. taking certified samples of material;
    4. obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is stored in a computer or in any other device;
11. "State Information Commission" means the State Information Commission constituted under sub-section (1) of section 15;
12. "State Chief Information Commissioner" and "State Information Commissioner" mean the State Chief Information Commissioner and the State Information Commissioner appointed under subsection (3) of section 15;
13. "State Public Information Officer" means the State Public Information Officer designated under sub-section (1) and includes a State Assistant Public Information Officer designated as such under sub-section (2) of section 5;
14. "third party" means a person other than the citizen making a request for information and includes a public authority.

Simplified Act

This law explains certain terms used throughout the document:

• "Appropriate Government" refers to the government responsible for a public organization, depending on whether the organization is funded by the Central Government (including Union territory administration) or the State Government.
• "Central Information Commission" is the commission created by a specific section of this law.
• "Central Public Information Officer" is the officer appointed to provide information under this law, including their assistants.
• "Chief Information Commissioner" and "Information Commissioner" are the top officials appointed to oversee the provision of information.
• "Competent authority" refers to the person in charge depending on the context, which could be the Speaker of the House, the Chief Justice, the President, the Governor, or other specific officials.
• "Information" means any kind of data or material, like records, emails, contracts, etc., and also includes information about private bodies that the public can access through the law.
• "Prescribed" means the specific rules set by the government or authority as per this law.
• "Public authority" is any government body, institution, or NGO that's established by the Constitution, laws, or government notifications and receives ...

Explanation using Example

Imagine a citizen named John wants to understand how the local municipal corporation is using its funds for public park maintenance. John believes this falls under the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005. He decides to file an RTI application.

Here's how the definitions from Section 2 apply:

• The appropriate Government in this case would be the State Government since the municipal corporation is established by the State Legislature.
• John seeks information from the public authority, which is the municipal corporation, a body of self-government constituted by law made by the State Legislature.
• The information John requests includes maintenance records, financial reports, and contracts, which are part of the information and record as defined by the Act.
• He wi...