Right To Information

The right to information has been in picture since India was declared a republic, but it was difficult to enforce the same without knocking the doors of the court. The Right to Information though included implicitly in the wide expanse of our fundamental right of expression guaranteed by Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, has now been granted express and explicit recognition. The Union Parliament passed the Right to Information Act in May this year. The Act was passed after intense lobbying which gained momentum ever since the new Government assumed power with an unequivocal promise to enhance the efficacy of the old law. This new Act has come into operation throughout the nation on October 12.

A number of decisions pronounced by the apex Court have accepted the fact that the masses cannot put forth a discerning opinion on various socio-political issues if they do not have access to information on how their Government and public institutions function. This gives us an answer to the very crucial question i.e. why is the sovereignty of media or press considered as a concomitant of a democratic set up. In a landmark decision of the