APPELLATE MECHANISM FOR THE WHISTLEBLOWERS

AUTHOR – SAKSHI KUMARI, STUDENT AT CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – SAKSHI KUMARI, APPELLATE MECHANISM FOR THE WHISTLEBLOWERS, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 4 (2) OF 2024, PG. 975-978, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

With a pursuit to enable transparency and accountability in the governance machinery, the Right to Information was given statutory recognition in order to enable access to pertinent information to the common citizenry, which is otherwise exclusively available to government agencies. Right to know being the intersection of the statutory as well as constitutional realm, alarms imperative redressal and restitution of grievances in the form of acquisition and dissemination of information by government entities, in consonance with Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of India along with sections 18, 19 and 20 of the Right to Information Act. Correspondingly, the legislature envisioned establishment of the Information Commissions for extinguishing the heightened responsibility on the government authorities. The research article attempts to comprehend the legislative intent to some extent and the relevant provisions that account for the institution of complaints and the appellate procedure outlined under the framework of the Right to Information Act in order to ensure the ideals of participative and inclusive democracy. The article accomplishes its objectives through the non-doctrinal method by elaborating on the existing legislative recourse available to the aggrieved, who is disenchanted by refusal or non-compliance to the sought requests for specific information. The data revealed by CHRI suggests that a nominal percentage of the populace constitutes the user base of the RTI Act. Glaringly, by the end of the discussion, the article sought to familiarize the readers by delving deeper into the procedural aspects of filing applications and appeals under the wider ambit of the Right to Information Act 2005.

KEYWORDS: Appellate, Transparency, Governance, Accountability, Information, RTI Act