<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Status: In force </Td> </Tr> <P> Right to Information (RTI) is an Act of the Parliament of India to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens and replaces the erstwhile Freedom of information Act, 2002 . Under the provisions of the Act, any citizen of India may request information from a "public authority" (a body of Government or "instrumentality of State") which is required to reply expeditiously or within thirty days . The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for wide dissemination and to proactively certain categories of information so that the citizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally . </P> <P> This law was passed by Parliament on 15 June 2005 and came fully into force on 12 October 2005 . The first application was given to a Pune police station . Information disclosure in India was restricted by the Official Secrets Act 1923 and various other special laws, which the new RTI Act relaxes . It codifies a fundamental right of citizens . </P> <P> The Act covers the whole of India except Jammu and Kashmir, where J&K Right to Information Act is in force . It covers all constitutional authorities, including the executive, legislature and judiciary; any institution or body established or constituted by an act of Parliament or a state legislature . It is also defined in the Act that bodies or authorities established or constituted by order or notification of appropriate government including bodies "owned, controlled or substantially financed" by government, or non-Government organizations "substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds" </P>

When was the right to information act implemented