Hi I am giving you the exact legal position. My RTI activist friends may of course disagree (and discuss).
1) The Official Secrets Act is still very much in force and has not been repealed. RTI Act provides a limited exception to the OSA insofar as the Right to Free Speech/Expression in a democracy is concerned. So the starting premise is that CITIZENS ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN POSSESSION OF GOVT RECORDS OR CIRCULATE THEM WHERE THEY CAN FALL INTO ENEMY HANDS. <-- Read and digest this carefully. 2) The RTI Act carves out an exception - information to be mandatorily (note I do not use the NGO label "proactively") published by the State to facilitate the citizen's right to participate democratically. This class of information is specified in section 4(1) of the RTI Act and is subject to the just exceptions of section 8 and 9 of RTI Act. There is thus no problem in reproducing any such information by republishing it. However, you must take care that the subsequent distribution is limited only within the territory of India where the RTI Act applies and that foreigners opposed to India do not lay their hands on it 3) The RTI Act also provides for a secondary measure whereby an individual citizen may formally apply (request) for such specific information that he desires. This is known as the section 6 process. Such information given to section 6 applicant may not be reproduced or circulated further as this would result in breach of OSA and be liable for penalty. So for eg. journalists who use RTI to publish stories are liable to be prosecuted under OSA under multiple heads. 4) A significant question is how to prove that Govt records (incl. copies) in a citizen's possession do not contravene OSA. The RTI Act provides that a citizen may apply for a "certified copy" of the information. This is to be distinguished by certified copies given under preexisting laws. In RTI, a citizen may request that it be certified by the PIO / Public authority that the information is a true copy lawfully given under RTI. 5) The only case to my mind where this issue cropped up is in case of urban planner Ms Gita Dewan Verma. A strong proponent of section 4 disclosure she was waiting patiently for the Ministry of Urban Development's policy to be published. In the meantime an NGO applied under section 6 and obtained an advance copy which they reproduced on their website without any permission. An aggrieved Ms Verma approached the Commission in Complaint asking that the policy be similarly given to her with reproduction rights by the State. As we have discussed on this group Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi did not know what to make of this and took private coaching classes behind the Complainant's back from Aruna Roy and Shekhar Singh (another violation of OSA). Finally the order completely skirted this question because the NGO concerned is a close ally of the NCPRI of which Mr Gandhi was the Convenor. Sarbajit On Thu, May 20, 2010 at 12:17 AM, K Ramnarayan <[email protected]>wrote: > > > Hi > > Was keen to know what are the rules that govern republishing / distribution > of > information acquired under RTI > > Specifically can such material be redistributed (in any form) and can it be > > incorporated into news letters (print and internet) > > regards > ram > >
