The Right to Information is a subject of fundamental importance in any civilised society.

It is also a part of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression

guaranteed under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution. Much of the common man's
hardship and helplessness could be traced to his lack of access to information and want
of knowledge of 'decision making processes'. The Preamble to the Right to Information
Act, 2005 seeks to provide for "setting out the practical regime of right to information for
citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order
to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the
constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commission
and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto."

Information is a term derived from the Latin words ''Formation' and 'Forma' which means
giving shape to something and forming a pattern respectively. Information is about
'democratization of communication'. However, this is a broad undertaking of the term.

If we look into at the legal terminology, under section 20 of the Indian Evidence Act,
1872 it implies that wherever there is a dispute and the court requires information about
the truth on that point, the statement that a reference makes is information.

Information may be of facts or law. In the case of ITC v A. Raman, it was clarified that
'information' in the Income Tax means instructions or knowledge derived from an
external source concerning facts or particulars or as to law relating to assessment. The
word 'information' in section 34(1) (b) of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1922 includes
information as to the true and correct state of law and so would cover information as to
relevant judicial decision. In the case of CIT v Jagan Nath, it was held that the word
'information' is synonymous with knowledge or wareness, in contraction to
apprehension, suspicion or misgiving.

Under section 2(1) (v) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 'information' includes
data, text, images, sound, voice, codes, computer programmes, software and database
or micro film or computer generated micro fiche.

"Information" means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-
mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports,
papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information
relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any
other law for the time being in force.

Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution guarantees the fundamental rights to free speech
and expression. The prerequisite for enjoying this right is knowledge and information.
The absence of authentic information on matters of public interest will only encourage
wild rumours and speculations and avoidable allegations against individuals and
institutions. Therefore, the Right to Information becomes a constitutional right, being an
aspect of the right to free speech and expression which includes the right to receive and
collect information. This will also help the citizens perform their fundamental duties as
set out in Article 51A of the Constitution. A fully informed citizen will certainly be better
equipped for the performance of these duties. Thus, access to information would assist
citizens in fulfilling these obligations.

Right to know is closely linked with other basic rights such as freedom of speech and
expression and right to education. Citizen's right to information is a necessary condition
to achieve accountable, transparent and participatory governance and people-centred
development. It empowers citizens in relation to the state and enhances their control
over political processes. It acts as a deterrent against arbitrary exercise of official
power. It empowers people to hold public authorities accountable for their actions on a
regular basis. At the heart of the RTI are two key concepts:

The right of the public to request access to information and

The corresponding duty on the government to meet the request, unless specific, defined
exemptions apply.

Broadly, this duty entails maintaining records, dissemination of information in the

language people's access to information and creating suitable conditions so that
information could be used optimally. The right to information thus imposes duty on both
the government and the citizens. For citizens, it entails asking information and using
that to participate in decision making process, especially, if a decision is of their
concern.

Now a basic question arises, why should citizen access information held by the
Government? Government are functioning because citizens exist. All information that
government creates or stores relates in some way or the other belongs to citizens. For
instance, a policy on food distribution, expenditure to be made on health, regulation of
schools etc, it affects all citizens in long run. These policies are made by the
government for the benefits of public and people's money is used to make and
implement the policy. Therefore, people have the right to know why certain policies are
made, how they will be implemented, who will implement them and how it will affect
their

However, much of the information is hoarded by the rulers to create a 'poverty of

information' because secrecy helps them to continue with their arbitrariness in decision
making and to create an environment of unaccountability. Maintaining confidentiality is
perhaps seen as a symbol of supremacy and seems to create a distance between the
ruler and the ruled. Ruling elites do not want to share information because information is
a power and it is unequal distribution of this power that creates two distinct categories-
the rulers and the ruled. Today, colonialism may have ended but the culture of secrecy
has not gone. Anti-terrorist legislation, criminal defamation laws, overly indulgent
contempt and privilege laws, media and privacy regulations and restrictive civil service
rules, all remain intact. The Official Secret Act continues to punish those who are guilty
of breach confidentiality of government's information. Such an environment of secrecy
restricts the development of citizens as well as society. It sees a citizen not as an
independent entity but as a subject to be governed by the State.
 It is heartening to note that the highest Bench of India while recognising the efficacy of
the 'right to know' which is a sine qua non of a really effective participatory democracy
raised the simple 'right to know' to the status of a fundamental right. In S.P. Gupta v
Union of India, the court held that the 'right to know' is implicit in the right of free speech
and expression guaranteed under the Constitution in Article 19(1) (a). The right to know
is also implicit in article 19(1) (a) as a corollary to a free press which is included in free
speech and expression as a fundamental right. The Court decided that the right to free
speech and expression includes:

1. Right to propagate one's views, ideas and their circulation;

2. Right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas;

3. Right to inform and be informed;

4. Right to know;

5. Right to reply; and

6. Right to commercial speech and commercial information.

Furthermore, by narrowly interpreting the privilege of the Government to withhold

documents under Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act, the court has widened the
scope of getting information from Government files. In the same manner by narrowly
interpreting the exclusionary rule of Article 72(2) of the Constitution, the Court ruled that
the material on which cabinet advice to the President is based can be examined by the
Court.

The most important way of testing whether a RTI law is effective to assess the kinds of
information that the law specifies can be withheld, for whatever reason. These are
known as "exemptions" and all exemptions should be clearly defined in the law. A
general rule is that the basis for refusing a request for information should only be one
where there is a legitimate public interest in withholding information. Such grounds
might be, if the release of information:

Is detrimental to the pursued of a criminal case or law enforcement;Violates personal

privacy;Constitutes a threat to national security;Affects confidentiality;Endangers the
safety of the public or an individual;Undermine the effectiveness and integrity of
government decision making processes.There are a number of relatively standard
categories of exemptions, although countries differ in their approach. Any refusal should
meet the following test:The information being withheld must fall into a category
specified;Disclosure must threaten to cause substantial harm; and The harm must be
greater than the public interest in having the information.