The purport of Sec.7.1 of the
RTI Act is to provide for obtaining an emergency response (as against the normal time limit of 30 days) where the life and liberty of a person are in imminent danger of being curtailed. Therefore the onus rests on the applicant to prove that without the information being made available in 48 hours, there is a serious threat to his life and liberty.
No doubt the Art.21 enshrines the right to life and personal liberty. The expressions “right to life and personal liberty” are compendious terms, which include within themselves variety of rights and attributes. Some of them are also found in Article 19 and thus have two sources at the same time.
The term "liberty" has been debated widely to connote an expanded meaning. It has been argued that "the expression cannot be limited to mere absence of bodily restraint. It is wide enough to expand to full range of rights including right to hold a particular opinion and right to sustain and nurture that opinion. For sustaining and nurturing that opinion it becomes necessary to receive information. Article 21 confers on all persons a right to know which include a right to receive information". As a result of this liberal interpretation of the term liberty, we have with us today the
RTI Act.
But for the purpose of invoking the emergency provision U/s 7.1, unless you are able to prove that there is an imminent danger or threat to sustain your liberal interpretation of the term liberty, it is better to seek the info under the normal channel.