RTI Section 1: Short title, extent and commencement

Short title, extent and commencement

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

(1) This Act may be called the Right to Information Act, 2005.

(2) It extends to the whole of India.

(3) The provisions of sub-section (1) of section 4, sub-sections (1) and (2) of section 5, sections 12, 13, 15, 16, 24, 27 and 28 shall come into force at once, and the remaining provisions of this Act shall come into force on the one hundred and twentieth day of its enactment (12 October 2005).

Statutory Defined Terms in this Section: (Click any term for official legal definition)

Information Sec 2(f) Public Authority Sec 2(h) Right to Information Sec 2(j)

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 1

Section 1 of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (Act No. 22 of 2005) establishes the short title, universal pan-Indian territorial extent, and a staggered, bifurcated commencement architecture that operationalized key institutional and administrative machinery immediately upon presidential assent while deferring full substantive citizen access for 120 days.

Universal Pan-Indian Territorial Application: Extends to the whole of India; following the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 (Act 34 of 2019) read with the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Order, 2020, the erstwhile exclusion of the State of Jammu and Kashmir under Section 1(2) stands deleted, rendering the statutory regime uniformly enforceable across all States and Union Territories without territorial exception.
Staggered Two-Tier Commencement Mechanism: Under Section 1(3), key institutional, administrative, and rule-making provisions—specifically Sections 4(1), 5(1), 5(2), 12, 13, 15, 16, 24, 27, and 28—came into force immediately upon presidential assent on June 15, 2005, to ensure the prior constitution of Commissions, designation of PIOs, and framing of rules; all remaining substantive provisions, including the citizens' right to request information under Section 6, came into force on the one hundred and twentieth day, namely October 12, 2005.
Constitutional Pedigree under Article 19(1)(a): Enacted to operationalize the fundamental right to know intrinsic to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, transforming administrative governance from a colonial culture of official secrecy into an open democratic regime of transparency and accountability.

Key Landmark Precedents:

State of UP v. Raj Narain (1975) 4 SCC 428: A Constitution Bench held that in a government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets; the people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries, establishing the constitutional genesis of the right to information under Article 19(1)(a).
S.P. Gupta v. Union of India 1981 Supp SCC 87: Justice P.N. Bhagwati affirmed that an open government is an emanation from the democratic society to which the Constitution is dedicated; disclosure of government information should be the rule and secrecy an exception justified only by strict public interest demands.
Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court of India v. Subhash Chandra Agarwal (2020) 5 SCC 481: A 5-Judge Constitution Bench ruled that the RTI Act is a statutory recognition of the constitutional right to information implicit in Article 19(1)(a), designed to curtail corruption and enhance governance, but emphasized that it must be harmonized and balanced against the fundamental right to privacy under Article 21.

Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In litigation touching upon historical access disputes or the validity of subordinate rules framed during the transition period, verify whether the cause of action accrued before or after October 12, 2005. Furthermore, following the 2019 Reorganisation Act, all public authorities in the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh fall under the supervisory jurisdiction of the Central Information Commission, and any territorial defense based on the erstwhile J&K Right to Information Act, 2009 is non est.