Impact of RTI on Corruption in India: A Critical Analysis

The Author, Akshita Khanna is a 2nd Year, BA.LLB student of University School of Law and Legal Studies, GGSIPU. She is currently interning with LatestLaws.com.

INTRODUCTION

Fundamental Rights are cherished by the citizens in a democracy and are the essence of the much-valued principles of a Republic. One such Right is the Right to Information. It is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution but it is implied in Article 19(1)(a) and Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Article 19(1)(a) gives all citizens the right the freedom of speech and expression. Article 21 says that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.”

 The Supreme Court of India has talked about this celebrated Right in its judgments. In the case of Raj Narain, [[1]] the Supreme Court said that the Right to Know, which should make one wary, when secrecy is claimed for transactions which can, at any rate, have no repercussion on public security. In Romesh Thapar v. State of Madras [[2]], the Supreme Court of India found the freedom of discussion to be included in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and the freedom of the press to be an aspect of the freedom of discussion so that members of a democratic society should be sufficiently informed to ‘be able to form their own beliefs and communicate them freely. The fundamental principle is the people’s right to know’.

In the year 1977, a people’s movement in Rajasthan- Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan started. They demanded the social audit of accounts of the authorities of the village. That movement was a great success and it paved the way for National Campaign on People’s Right to Information (NCPRI). NCPRI advocated for the RTI at national level. The selfless crusader, Anna Hazare also contributed to the journey of bringing this legislation. In Maharashtra, he demanded this law and went on a fast unto death till the fulfilment of his demands.

Such movements at the state and the national level and the judgments of the Supreme Court of India recognizing the Right to know finally culminated into a legislation in the year 2005. The Parliament passed the Right to Information Act, 2005. It empowered the people of India and it brought to the surface and made visible the much talked about termite of corruption.

There is not an ounce of doubt in the fact that RTI is one of the most successful legislations of the Government of India. It has given voice to the poor and the neglected sectors of the society. It has increased accountability of the Government and transparency in the public sector. Many success stories of RTI have been doing the rounds in the public sphere. It has led to the discoveries of many scandals in the public sector. We’ll try to analyse the impact of the RTI Act on corruption.

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the interesting and big victories of RTI and how it has facilitated the life of common citizens by removing the opaqueness from public authorities. Analysis of the trends of primarily two indices of the World Bank and Transparency International used to assess corruption will give us a good idea of the impact RTI has had on corruption in India. Then, we’ll proceed to know where the fallacies in the implementation of RTI lie and how we as a nation need to work and how can the citizens contribute for the development of a better democracy.

SCANDALS DISCOVERED

Firstly, let’s see how this powerful legislation led to the discoveries of some of the biggest scams that India witnessed.

Adarsh Society scam

A six-storey building was to be constructed for the 1999 Kargil war-heroes and the widows of the martyrs of the war. It ended up being a thirty-one storey high rise complex in Colaba, Mumbai. The Ministry of Defence had the rightful ownership of that land. Besides the misuse of the granted land, there were many issues in this case, namely, there were serious security concerns as the 100 m building was very close to a planned helipad and military installations, no NOC was obtained from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. There were thirty-three benami transactions discovered and everyone who helped in passing the file was gifted a flat. An RTI filed by Simpreet Singh and Yogacharya Anandji led to the revelation of a corrupt network of politicians, bureaucrats and military officials for mutual benefits.

2G scam

The 2G scandal refers to the selling of 2G spectrum improperly and irregularly to benefit a few companies. It happened in the year 2008 when A. Raja was the Telecom Minister of India. The companies were undercharged and according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the exchequer had to bear loss of rupees 1.76 lakh crore on account of irregularities. An RTI filed by activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal in 2011 and then the court framed charges under the provisions of IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. DMK MP Kanimozhi was also the accused in this case.

Commonwealth Games scam

In the year 2010, India got the opportunity to host the Commonwealth games. The then chairman of the organizing committee, Suresh Kalmadi took the services of the companies who over-quoted prices and disqualified those who offered better prices for incomprehensible reasons. Not only did this scam cost the country huge monetary losses but also brought us disrepute and humiliation on an international level. The funds granted for the welfare projects for Dalits were also diverted to the Commonwealth games. This information was revealed by an RTI filed by an NPO- Housing and Land Rights Network.

All of us had heard many stories of corruption, but RTI is the tool that gave the public evidence of how the so-called custodians of law break the same law and exploit it to their advantage. Activism has played the most important role and revealed the modus operandi of such scandals.

IMPACT ON INSTITUTIONS

RTI has had a great impact on some institutions and sectors in particular and the system of our country at large.

RBI

In a recent case of Reserve Bank of India v. Jayantilal Mistry [[3]], the apex court said that the RBI ought to act with transparency and not hide information that might embarrass individual banks. RTI has been very helpful in letting us know about the operations of the regulator of the Indian Banking system. In the year 2018, an RTI reply by the RBI said that the Banks have reported over 23.000 cases of fraud in the past five years. These cases involve an amount of rupees one lakh crore. In a recent reply to an RTI, RBI has revealed that banks have written off loans worth rupees 68,600 crores.

PDS system

It is a system to supply food grains and other essential commodities to the poor people regularly at subsidized prices. Many a time, it has been observed that either those people had to pay bribe to receive their food items or the items found their way in the open market and forged signatures were done on the records. These corruption cases affect a large percentage of the population much more directly than larger scandals. But after years of helplessness, people started using RTI as tool to fight this systematic corruption. When they received their RTI reply, the shop owners or any person of the supply chain was held accountable on account of default and the people were able to get their food grains.

Education sector

Education is the most neglected sector of our country. A campaign by the name of ‘Shiksha ka sawaal’ had started in the towns and villages of Rajasthan. [[4]] The students protested against the lack of teachers in government schools. The campaign ran for about a year during 2015-16 and it used RTI to monitor government schools and public education across the State. It yielded positive results and the Principals of these schools were made PIOs (Public Information Officers). They started having Abhibhavak Divas (parents-teachers meetings) and Shiksha Samvaad, a dialogue between the media, school, teachers, parents and the education minister, along with education secretaries. Aspirants of various competitive exams also filed RTIs if they felt that there has been something wrong or unjust done to them in the selection process.

NGOs

In a recent case of D.A.V. College Trust and Management Society v. Director of Public Instructions[[5]], the apex court  held that non-governmental organisations which were substantially financed by the appropriate government fall within the ambit of ‘public authority’ under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Payments of pension

RTI has been very instrumental in helping the pensioners. They have been seeking information from the authorities in delays or non-payment of their pension. Grievances of the citizens have been addressed on various issues from the concerned authorities like Passport Office, public welfare funds, police in regards to FIRs, government universities and examination boards.

The process is also simple and not much is required to file an RTI. In the year 2018, CIC also ordered that payment of pension cannot be denied for lack of Aadhar Card. The case was concerning the 55 pensioners. CIC made reference to the right to privacy judgment [[6]] in which the apex court had held that citizens cannot be forced to show their Aadhar to avail the benefits of government schemes. The commission further said in its decision, “It is a matter of life and living of 55 pensioners who were totally dependent upon the paltry amount of pension. Though it is a small amount even a day's delay in payment might disturb the routine life of all or some of them. That is why the information relating to payment pension to retired persons should be considered and categorized as the information concerning the life and should have been responded within 48 hours.”[[7]]

Such decisions reiterate the importance of information for exercising the Fundamental Rights by the citizens. The CIC has also held that FIR [[8]], as well as information related to judicial proceedings [[9]], are public document.

There is another very interesting case in which the question was if the office of the CJI comes under the purview of the RTI Act. Time and again, serious questions have been raised against the functioning of the highest judicial office of the country. It took fourteen years after the RTI Act came into force to have a judgment that declared that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a public authority under RTI.

The Delhi High Court in the case of Public Information Officer v. V. Chaudhary [[10]] ruled that all information as available within the public authority is required to be provided to the citizen unless it is exempt from disclosure under Section 8 of the RTI Act. The court also said that Section 11 of the Act provides certain safeguards and does not proscribe disclosure of information.

RTI has had a positive impact on the working of these institutions especially the Public Distribution System and the education sector where the termite of corruption had been pervading. It has helped in removing the opaqueness from these institutions and increasing the accountability of those who manage them.

ANALYSIS OF INDICES OF CORRUPTION

In this article, we will primarily analyse the trends before and after 2005 (the year when the RTI Act came into effect in India) of the two indices: firstly, corruption perception index (CPI) published by Transparency International and, secondly, World Bank’s Control of Corruption Indicator.

World Bank’s Control of Corruption Indicator [WB-CCI]

Control of corruption Indicator range: (-2.5 weak, 2.5 strong).

 The average value for India during the period shown in the graph is -0.38 points with a minimum of -0.54 points in 2011 and a maximum of -0.19 points in 2018. The latest value from 2018 is -0.19 points. For comparison, the world average in 2018 based on 193 countries is -0.04 points. [[11]]

The trends that this index depicts have not been satisfactory. It shows that the present situation that prevails in India is weak in terms of control of corruption.

Transparency International- Corruption Perception Index [TI-CPI]

Before delving into the analysis of CPI from the year 1995 when Transparency International first released the index, it is important to know that they have adopted two different methodologies for different time periods. From 1995 to 2011, one method was used to determine the index and since 2012, another method is being used for assessment.

Table depicting CPI from the year 1995 to 2011

Table depicting CPI from the year 2012 to 2019

The difference in the CPI scores in the time periods of pre-2005 and post-2005 shows a little progress. The point to be noted here is that the progress is neither consistent nor remarkable. The rankings have also seen a dip in subsequent years. We need to analyse the parameters on which the index is based and acknowledging as to why we have not fared so well and why the RTI Act has not had the much-needed impact on corruption.

According to the 2019 report [[12]] of Transparency International on corruption, unfair and political financing, undue influence in decision-making and lobbying by powerful groups have resulted in no progress in the index.

The report also said, “Our analysis also shows corruption is more pervasive in countries where big money can flow freely into electoral campaigns and where governments listen only to the voices of wealthy or well-connected individuals.”

RTI AND POLITICAL PARTIES

So, the big question that arises here when we analyse the impact of RTI on corruption is if the political parties that ultimately form the Government in our country come within the purview of RTI.

When we analyse the situation in our country we can clearly look at the intention of the political parties who are not at all willing to come under the ambit of RTI. An RTI was filed in 2010 by the Association for Democratic Reforms to seek information about the ten maximum voluntary contributions to all political parties. No information was disclosed by them. Then a petition was filed in CIC and in 2013, the historic judgment of the CIC declared that all the six national political parties come under the definition of public authority as under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act and therefore, under the purview of the RTI Act.[[13]] The judgment has not been complied with by the parties. A PIL is sub-judice in the apex court on the same matter.

The decision of the Supreme Court in D.A.V. College Trust and Management Society v. Director of Public Instructions [[14]] which held that non-governmental organisations which were substantially financed by the appropriate government fall within the ambit of ‘public authority’ under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. The reasoning, in this case, gives us a perspective that the political parties should come under the ambit of the RTI Act. This case gives us a very good idea of the fact that how the lawmakers themselves avoid the very laws that they make in the Parliament.

WHERE THE FALLACIES LIE?

Section 4 of the Act has not been implemented properly by the public authorities. Section 4 of the Act puts public authorities under an obligation to maintain records and disseminate all the information in local language through internet, notice boards, newspapers, public announcements, media etc. To ensure the implementation of this suo-motu clause, the internal processes within the public authorities are not defined.

According to the provisions of Section 19(7), the order of the Central Information Commission is binding. But, as we have seen it has not been followed by the political parties and no action has been taken against them for this willful non-compliance. There is a need to give more teeth to this quasi-judicial body. No fear of punishment for not following the order renders the institution ineffective.

The Act has received much criticism for the sweeping exemptions that it permits. The high level of pendency in the CIC poses yet another big challenge. Due to the non-optimal method for disposing of appeals and complaints, the situation is very serious. Many a time, it takes more than 30 days to receive the information from the PIO.

The RTI Amendment Bill, 2019 is a threat to the independence of the Central Information Commission and is against the doctrine of checks and balances. The Bill seeks to amend Section 13 and 16 of the Act which talk about the term and salary of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), State Information Commissioner (SIC) and the Information Commissioners (ICs). Their term of service was fixed for the term of 5 years or until the age of 65 years whichever is earlier. Now, the amendment specifies that the appointment will be for such term as may be prescribed by the central government. Earlier the salary of the CIC was equivalent to that of the Chief Election Commissioner and that of the SIC was equivalent to the Chief Secretary of States. The amendments, however, suggest that the salary shall be as prescribed by the Central government. The Amendment Bill also removes the provision that when appointed, if CIC and ICs are receiving the pension or any other retirement benefits from the previous government service, their salaries will be reduced by an amount equal to that pension. All of these changes would affect the autonomy of the institution of CIC and grant greater powers to the Centre.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we can say that there are some areas like that of education and Public distribution system where the situation has improved for the betterment but still a lot of work needs to be done in those areas. There still remain areas which have been untouched by this revolutionary legislation like in the case of political parties and India still remains a country where ‘big money can flow freely in elections.’ The Act is remarkably one of the best-used legislations in the world by the general public for exercising their Fundamental Rights. But there are some intricate fallacies in its implementation.

It is very important that the institution which was born out of this revolutionary law remains independent and the citizens have faith in the institutions that govern the country. RTI is an effective tool and only if the institution of CIC has independence and authority, we can be proud of our democratic principles.

To support the RTI and the institution of CIC, there should be an effective anti-corruption infrastructure in the country. The people of India had high expectation from the anti-corruption movement of 2011 led by Anna Hazare. The Parliament of India brought an Act- the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 but the institution of Lokpal has not proved to be efficacious enough to curb corruption in the country.

Now, to improve the present situation, the media and the citizens have a bigger role to play. We should spread awareness of such laws. When such sunshine legislations can be brought in the Parliament through citizens led movements, we can definitely bring change by raising our voice against the fallacies in the system.

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