This office memorandum clarifies the interpretation of ‘information’ and the format in which it should be provided under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005. It emphasizes that Public Information Officers (PIOs) are obligated to supply the material as it is held by the public authority, rather than extracting or deducing information. While citizens have the right to receive information in various forms, including photocopies or electronic formats, PIOs are not required to reshape the information or conduct research on behalf of the applicant. The core principle is to provide the existing material, not to create new conclusions or analyses.
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No.11/2/2008-IR
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances \& Pensions
Department of Personnel \& Training
North Block, New Delhi
Dated: the $10^{\text {th }}$ July, 2008
OFFICE MEMORANDUM
Subject: Clarification regarding format in which the ‘information’ should be supplied under the RTI Act, 2005.
It has been observed that some people under the Right to Information Act, 2005 request the Public Information Officers (PIO) to cull out information from some document(s) and give such extracted information to them. In some cases, the applicants expect the PIO to give information in some particular proforma devised by them on the plea that sub-section (9) of Section 7 provides that an information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it is sought. It need be noted that the sub-section simply means that if the information is sought in the form of photocopy, it shall be provided in the form of photocopy and if it is sought in the form of a floppy, it shall be provided in that form subject to the conditions given in the Act etc. It does not mean that the PIO shall re-shape the information.
2. According to section 2(f) of the Act ‘information’ means ‘any material in any form’. A citizen, under the Act, has a right to get ‘material’ from a public authority which is held by or under the control of that public authority. The right includes inspection of work, documents, records; taking notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records; taking certified samples of material; taking 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. Careful reading of the definition of ‘information’ and ‘right to information’ makes it clear that a citizen has a right to get the material, inspect the material, take notes from the material, take extracts or certified copies of the material, take samples of the material, take the material in the form of diskettes etc. The PIO is required to supply such material to the citizen who seeks it. The Act, however, does not require the Public Information Officer to deduce some conclusion from the ‘material’ and supply the ‘conclusion’ so deduced to the applicant. The PIO is required to
supply the ‘material’ in the form as held by the public authority and is not required to do research on behalf of the citizen to deduce anything from the material and then supply it to him.
3. Contents of this OM may be brought to the notice of all concerned.
(K.G. Verma)
Director
- All the Ministries / Departments of the Government of India
- Union Public Service Commission/ Lok Sabha Sectt./ Rajya Sabha Secretariat/ Cabinet Secretariat/ Central Vigilance Commission/ President’s Secretariat/ Vice-President’s Secretariat/ Prime Minister’s Office/ Planning Commission/Election Commission.
- Central Information Commission/State Information Commissions.
- Staff Selection Commission, CGO Complex, New Delhi
- O/o the Comptroller\&Auditor General of India, 10, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi.
- All officers / Desks / Sections, DOP\&T and Department of Pension and Pensioners Welfare.
Copy to: Chief Secretaries of all the States/UTs.