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Section 31: Repeal of Freedom of Information Act, 2002

Right to Information Act, 2005 • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

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Act 2005
Section 30 All 31 Sections of Right to Information Act, 2005 End of Act

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 31

Section 31 expressly repeals the predecessor Freedom of Information Act, 2002, marking the legislative transition from a weak, non-operationalized administrative discretion framework to a rights-based, penalty-enforced, and quasi-judicially supervised transparency code.

  • Express Repeal of Freedom of Information Act, 2002: Formally repeals the Freedom of Information Act, 2002 (Act 5 of 2002), which had been enacted by Parliament but never brought into effective nationwide operation due to executive failure to notify rules and establish enforcement machinery.
  • Paradigm Shift to Enforceable Citizen Right: Transitions Indian administrative jurisprudence from a discretionary 'freedom' regime to an enforceable citizen 'right' anchored in Article 19(1)(a), fortified by independent appellate commissions (Chapter III and IV) and personal monetary penalties against defaulting officers (Section 20).
  • Interplay with Section 6 of General Clauses Act, 1897: Subject to the general principles of statutory repeal, pre-existing rights and legal proceedings accrued prior to the repeal are saved, but the operational procedure and substantive disclosure standards are governed exclusively by the modern 2005 enactment.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Central Public Information Officer, Supreme Court of India v. Subhash Chandra Agarwal (2020) 5 SCC 481: The Constitution Bench traced the evolution of transparency laws in India, noting that Parliament consciously repealed the weak 2002 Act to install the RTI Act, 2005 as a potent, rights-based mechanism with independent enforcement commissions and penal powers.
  • CBSE v. Aditya Bandopadhyay (2011) 8 SCC 497: The Supreme Court observed that the repeal of the 2002 Act and the enactment of the RTI Act, 2005 brought about a fundamental revolution in governance, dismantling the colonial culture of official secrecy and replacing it with a culture of participatory democracy.
  • State of UP v. Raj Narain (1975) 4 SCC 428 & PUCL v. Union of India (2003) 4 SCC 399: Historical constitutional jurisprudence recognizing that the right to information is intrinsic to the democratic process, rendering flawed, toothless statutes like the 2002 Act inadequate to satisfy constitutional guarantees.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In legal arguments concerning the legislative intent of the RTI Act, emphasize that the repeal of the 2002 Act under Section 31 represented a conscious parliamentary rejection of bureaucratic opacity. Any attempt by public authorities to interpret RTI provisions conservatively or restore departmental secrecy must be resisted by demonstrating that Section 31 intentionally obliterated the old discretionary regime in favor of maximum disclosure and accountability.

Section 30 All 31 Sections of Right to Information Act, 2005 End of Act