Court
Why RTI applications get refused
Far more often on form than on substance:
- The question is too broad. "All information regarding my case" invites a refusal. Ask for identified documents, over a stated period, held by a named office.
- It asks for an opinion rather than information. "Why was my application rejected?" is a question; "a copy of the noting and the order recording the decision on application no. X dated Y" is a request for information.
- It is addressed to the wrong public authority, or to an authority that does not hold the record.
- It seeks something exempt, without addressing why disclosure is nevertheless appropriate.
The single most effective change to most RTI applications is to convert every question into a request for a specific document. Officers can supply a document. They cannot supply a justification, and asking for one gives them somewhere to hide.
Where RTI is genuinely useful
Finding out the status and the file noting on a pending application; obtaining copies of records, orders and inspection reports; establishing what a department actually did and when, which is frequently decisive in a later proceeding; and obtaining records relating to property, permissions and municipal matters.
If information is refused or not supplied
There is a first appeal, and a second appeal beyond it, each with its own period. Refusals are frequently reversed on appeal, particularly where the original application was precise and the refusal was generic — which is another reason to draft the application carefully at the outset.
Drafted here, in Gujarati or English
Drafted by an advocate of 35+ years rather than filled into a downloaded template, e-stamped at a Government authorised centre, and notarised in the same visit. If the parties read Gujarati, the document is drafted in Gujarati — not translated out of an English form, because legal Gujarati has its own settled vocabulary and a literal translation frequently means something looser.
What to bring
- The name of the public authority and, if known, the office holding the record
- Details of any application, file or case number involved
- A clear statement of what you want to know
- Any earlier RTI application and the reply or refusal
- Photo ID