Posted by INDIAN CONSTITUTION AND RIGHT TO KNOW
BY
KUMARI RANJITA, STUDENT, DSNLU VIZAG, THIRD YEAR
(CAMPUS SENATOR, LAWOF)
“The Real ‘Swaraj’ will come not by the acquisition of authority by a few but by the acquisition of capacity by all to resist authority when abused.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
The following phrase has proved to be very instrumental in the foundation of Right to Information, as RTI is expected to be a tool for power of general public to not only get the knowledge and working of the government but also has proved to be very instrumental in making transparency a viable factor. In today’s world more than 90 countries have incorporated this right as a confluence of freedom of speech and expression. The first country to make such a right constitutional was Sweden. Finland, followed Sweden and became third country to incorporate this right, shortly after Columbia which provided the constitutional protection for the following right in 1888, the following being the least corrupt countries of today’s world. Even though the provision seem to be different like Indian, Chile, Paraguay, Costa Rica have stated that “the constitutional right to know is enforceable in court even without an enactment of particular legislation”. The constitution of few countries like Kenya, Panama and Poland have expressly extended right to information to public enterprises as well as to private entities that exercise public function but, the intention of every state seems to curb tyranny and to make these public offices accountable to public i.e. to bring these offices under public scrutiny. It has always been advocated that democracy means and includes ‘of the people, for the people and by the people’, and hence from this it becomes obligatory on the parts of these leaders as they have been chosen by the people to work for the people and hence, when they are working for the people, people not only reserve the right to know what they are doing but also how, they are going to do that and the following right by the virtue of it sounds to be fundamental, in the sense that the leaders who have won peoples trust have been entrusted with a authority and hence, is accountable to reveal every information which an individual wants to know as this is not only the right of the former but also the duty of the later by the virtue of the office of the later. RTI or Right to Know, has basically started to evolve almost in every nation by 20th century but has been incorporated through various legislation’s in 21st century only. The aim of every constitution is to preach, profess and practice right to know as the following has emerged to be the most essential ingredient of a democratic nation as, in the past decade after getting proper recognition in various countries, the following right has not only proved to be an essential part in helping individuals and acquainting them with the knowledge and working of the ruling government but also has exposed many scams and corruptions done by the leaders, and hence, transparency and accountability have been improved a lot and peoples participation has also increased. The following right though not expressly mentioned in the constitution of India, derives its authority from freedom of speech and expression as mentioned in article 19 1 (a) of India’s constitution i.e. Freedom of speech and expression which has been regarded as the second most important right after Right to Life.
The following right in India has evolved through interpretation of the constitution, and it began in 1980s where through a writ petition in SP Gupta V UOI[1], it was asked that the procedure and appointment of every judge of SC should be disclosed to the public, the state on the other hand contended that it is not possible as the state reserves this right to not disclose the procedure of appointment, however, the honourable SC rejected the following and stated that,
“Now, if secrecy were to be observed in the functioning of government and the processes of government were to be kept hidden from public scrutiny, it would tend to promote and encourage oppression, corruption and misuse or abuse of authority, for it would be all shrouded in the veil of secrecy without any public accountability. But if there is an open government with means of information available to public, there would be greater exposure of the functioning of the government and it would help to assure the people a better and more efficient administration. There can be little doubt that exposure to public gaze and scrutiny is one of the surest means of achieving a clean and healthy administration. It has been truly said that an open government is clean government and a powerful safeguard against political and administrative aberration and inefficiency.”
It would not be an exaggeration if it is said that Right to Information in our country has now evolved to be a part of a fundamental right due to the position it holds. As freedom of speech is sacred so is RTI, as if nobody can stop you from expressing yourself the same way nobody can deny you the right to know, because it not only your right but also the duty of the later to inform you and today’s law not only imposes sanction for acts only but also for omissions also. So, in a better way it can be said that the following right not only includes right to information only but also duty to be informed and duty to inform too, and as always have been the trend that a society can only said to be in para material with the legal systems if they not only know there rights but also follow their duties also, as non-fulfilment of their duties means violation of somebody’s right. So, the right to information can be said as a mixed bag of obligations of rights and duties which is capable of creation of transparency in a nation and will surely develop a nation in every aspect including governance; democracy will not only be respected but will also remain protected in its sacraments.
[1]AIR 1982 SC 149
506