RIGHT TO INFORMATION AS A FACET OF ACCOUNTABILITY

ADMINISTARTIVE LAW

SUBMITTED BY
SUBMITTED TO
HARSH JINDAL MR.
JAGDISH JENA
SEMESTER-V ‘A’ (ASST.
PROFESSOR)
ROLL NO-744
 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF STUDY AND RESEARCH IN LAW,
RANCHI.

CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
“Where a society has chosen to accept democracy as its creedal faith, it is
elementary that the citizens ought to know what their government is doing.”
-Justice P N Bhagwati
Transparency, accountability, freedom of speech and expression etc. are the
inherent tenets of any democratic nation. And it becomes more important when it comes
to one of the largest democracies in the world i.e. India. Right to Information act, 2005 is a
step ahead in the achievement of these tenets of democracy. The act gives public the
power to question the public authorities who are working for the benefit of public at large
making them accountable. These are the essence of good governance which is possible
only in the absence of arbitrariness i.e. by making public authorities accountable. To bring
transparency in the governance this act is the most powerful tool in the hands of ordinary
citizens.

RTI has a pivotal role in the good governance of India; where corruption is the
nerve of administration and the source for it is the secrecy therefore introduction of RTI is
a step towards reducing the corruption to a certain extent as well.

“We live in an age of information, in which the free flow of information and ideas
determines the pace of development and well-being of the people. The implementation of
RTI Act is, therefore, an important milestone in our quest for building an enlightened and
at the same time, a prosperous society. Therefore, the exercise of the Right to Information
cannot be the privilege of only a few.”1

People who have acquired information and have the knowledge to make use of
such information in the process of exercising their right become empowered which
improves quality of life. It helps in making public authorities accountable and brings

1
Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India, Valedictory Address at the National Convention on RTI,
October 15, 2006
 transparency in governance strengthening the democratic structure. It is tool to keep
necessary vigil on the instruments of governance.

RTI can be called as “Law of transparency” as it is a weapon with the citizen to

question the functioning of government and its officials which in turn makes the
functioning accountable leading to transparency in the system. Accountability and
transparency are a sin qua non of the participatory democracy.

RTI is inherent in democratic functioning and a precondition to good governance

and realization of all other human rights. The main objectives of the law on RTI are:

a. To operationalise the fundamental right to information;

b. To set up systems and mechanisms that facilitate people’s easy access to information;
to promote transparency, and

c. Accountability in governance; to minimize corruption and inefficiency in public offices

and to ensure people’s participation in governance and decision making.2

CHAPTER-2

NEXUS BETWEEN RTI AND ACCOUNTABILITY

The term accountability encapsulates Responsiveness, enforcement and

answerability. These are the basic notion for accountability which is provided by RTI it
brings about transparency in the functioning of the democratic instruments. The extent of
transparency in the system provides for better governance.

As RTI empowers citizens to question the functioning of the democratic

instruments It makes them accountable. It strengthens the participatory democracy by
making public authorities answerable to general public. Every public authority is required
to furnish the reason for its administrative and quasi-judicial decisions and hence the
possibility of arbitrariness reduces to a great extent. Information is a tool for
empowerment. The greater access to information by public leads greater responsiveness of
the government towards its subjects. Without information the people cannot exercise their
rights and responsibilities and make better choices.

2
M. M. Ansari, Impact of Right to Information on Development: A Perspective on India’s Recent Experiences,
cic.gov.in/CICIntlEvents/IC-MA-LectureAtUNESCO-15052008.pdf
 The information of the government is national resource. The information is not
created for the benefit of the government and its officials. This information is related to
the legitimate discharge of the duties by the authority and government. The authority and
government exist for the welfare of public.

The protection is provided against the information which are sensitive and cannot
be disclosed in public domain. The public officials cannot be held accountable for
information which is detrimental if published. They are not accountable for these types of
information. The Right to information has reasonable restrictions as making every
information public will have repercussions. So, the right is not absolute but it comes with
reasonable restriction and caution.

CHAPTER-3

TRACING DEVELOPMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH JUDICIAL

PRONOUNCEMENTS

In order to understand effectiveness of this Fundamental right it is very necessary

to analyse various facets of the judgement given by judiciary. Through various
pronouncements judiciary has determined right to information as fundamental right
enshrined in our constitution itself. The right to information according to judiciary
emerged from the constitution itself. It is intrinsic part of the fundamental rights
guaranteed under the constitution. The Bennett Coleman v. Union of India3, for the first
time, right to know as a Fundamental right was realized and consequently the Supreme
Court ruled that the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Art. 19(1) (a)
included the right to information.

Further in case of State of U.P v. Raj Narain4 the court held that the people of this
country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by
their public functionaries. They are entitled to know the particulars of every public
transaction in all its bearing. The right to know which is derived from the concept of
freedom of speech, though not absolute, is a factor which should make one wary, when
secrecy is claimed for transactions which can at any rate, have no repercussions on public
scrutiny. To cover this veil of secrecy, the common routine business, is not in the interest
of the public. such secrecy can seldom be legitimately desired. This is how the court
3
AIR 1973 SC 106
4
1975 (004) SCC 0428 SC
 before the enactment of the right to information act emphasized on the importance of
accountability by making public entitled to know the particulars of every public
transaction.

In another case of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Govt. of India v.

Cricket Assn. of Bengal5, the court held that right to acquire information and to
disseminate it is an intrinsic component of freedom of speech and expression. This was
reiterated by court in its various decision-making right to information as a part of
fundamental right. Similarly, In SP Gupta case6 the court was of the view that the concept
of an open government is the direct emanation from the right to know which seems to be
implicit in the right of free speech and expression guaranteed under article 19(1)(a).
therefore, disclosure of information in regard to the functioning of government must be
the rule and secrecy an exception justified only where the strictest requirement of public
interest so demands. The approach of the court must be to attenuate the area of secrecy as
much as possible consistently with the requirement of public interest. Bearing in mind all
the time that disclosure also serves an important aspect of public interest. This makes the
accountability an important part of the right to information as disclosure of information
was held to be important aspect of public interest.

People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India7 the court again reiterated, that
the right to information is definitely a fundamental right.

In case of Central Board of Secondary Education v. Aditya Bandyopadhyay8 the

court in its decision quoted that the right to information is a cherished right. Information
and right to information are intended to be formidable tools in the hands of responsible
citizens to fight corruption and to bring in transparency and accountability. This
pronouncement makes the right to information a sacrosanct right and also a crucial right to
bring transparency and accountability. But there is a need to make distinction, which
information is to be disseminated in public domain as every information cannot be
disclosed. So, in case of ICAI v. Shaunak H. Satya 9 the court held that “we however agree
that it is necessary to make a distinction in regard to information intended to bring
transparency, to improve accountability and to reduce corruption.”

5
1995(002) SCC 0161 SC
6
AIR 1982 SC 149
7
2003(001) SCW 2353 SC
8
(2011) 8 SCC 497
9
(2011) 8 SCC 781
 In Landmark case of Chief Information Commissioner and Anr. v. State of
Manipur and Anr.10 The court held that it is clear that parliament enacted the said act
keeping in mind the rights of an informed) citizenry in which transparency of information
is vital in curbing corruption and making the government and its instrumentalities
accountable. The act is meant to harmonise the conflicting interest of the government to
preserve the confidentiality of sensitive information with the right of citizens to know the
functioning of the governmental process in such a way as to preserve the paramountcy of
the democratic ideal. The right to know is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to free
speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution. Lord Acton in
one of his speeches:

“everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe

that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity,”

While considering the width and sweep of this right as well as fundamental
importance in a democratic republic, the court is conscious that such a right is subjected to
reasonable restriction. Thus, a note of caution has been given by the court in Dinesh
Trivedi v. Union of India11 “Sunlight is the best disinfectant. But it is equally important to
be alive to the dangers that lie ahead. It is important to realise that undue popular pressure
brought to bear on decision makers in government can have frightening side effects. If
every action taken by the political or executive functionary is transformed into a public
controversy and made subject to an enquiry to soothe popular sentiments, it will
undoubtedly have a chilling effect on the independence of the decision maker who may
find it safer not to take any decision. It will paralyse the entire system and bring it to a
grinding halt. So, we have two conflicting situations almost enigmatic and we think the
answer is to maintain a fine balance which would serve public interest.” This shows that
there is a reasonable limitation which is in the interest of public to safeguard the sensitive
information from being disseminated. So, the court has maintained a fine balance by
providing for the type of information which is to be made public and for which the
authority is held accountable, which is not detrimental if published in public domain.

In the latest pronouncement by the apex court in Anjali Bhardwaj and Others. v.
Union of India and Others12 the court encouraged that there is a definite link between right
10
CIVIL APPEAL NOS.10787-10788 OF 2011

11
6 (1997) 4 SCC 306
12
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 436 of 2018
to information and good governance. In fact, the RTI Act itself lays emphasis on good
governance and recognises that it is one of the objectives which the said Act seeks to
achieve. The RTI Act would reveal that four major elements/objectives required to ensure
good governance are:

(i) greater transparency in functioning of public authorities;

(ii) informed citizenry for promotion of partnership between citizens and the Government
in decision making process;

(iii) improvement in accountability and performance of the Government; and

(iv) reduction in corruption in the Government departments.

The right to information, therefore, is not only a constitutional right of the citizens
but there is now a legislation in the form of RTI Act which provides a legal regime for
people to exercise their fundamental right to information and to access information from
public authorities. This is how court through various pronouncements reiterated the
importance of Right to Information and accountability. This is one of the most important
right in the hands of citizen which every citizen should exercise for better enforcement and
enjoyment of their rights. It is important to note that accountability requires the active role
of citizens which is an important element of participatory democracy.

CHAPTER-4

CHALLENGES AND SUGGESTION FOR PROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF RTI

4.1. There are many challenges in the way of implementation of RTI making
accountability a far-fetched idea. Some of the challenges are as follows:

 Lack of Awareness: the act itself states that the appropriate government may organise
educational programmes to promote the understanding of the act and its use.
Especially the disadvantaged class. As the literacy rate is not satisfactory it is needed
that government should make people aware about this act and also the mechanism for
getting information making the public official and government accountable which in
turn will lead to transparency in the system.

 Uneven Implementation: The implementation of RTI act is uneven. It is not equally

implemented to all the states. Therefore, awareness level also differs from state to
state. In states like Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab the awareness level
 about RTI act is high, on the other hand awareness of people in Gujrat, Madhya
Pradesh, Jharkhand and UP is not high. Moreover, different rules for different states
especially on fees and costs make the RTI filing ineffective.13

 Biasness and unfairness: Generally, it is observed that retired bureaucrats are being
appointed for the post of highest level of RTI officials i.e. the information commission
at the central and state levels. These commissions are the independent of the
government. Activists are of the opinion that these officials often show sympathetic
attitude towards their fellow babus.14

 Protection of whistle-blowers: this is one of the most alarming issue of the RTI. Data
and Surveys clearly show the assault and murder RTI activists throughout the nation.
This forfeits whole purpose of the act. Strict punishment should be inflicted to prevent
these things.

4.2. Suggestions to these challenges as well as other suggestion for better implementation
and accountability are as follows:

 As above mentioned, lack of awareness is one of the main challenges so it is necessary

to spread awareness relating to the act. Fund should be appropriated by government for
publicity of RTI Act.

 RTI Act should be introduced in school syllabus so that the students who are future
leaders of our country can have a brief idea and can be further encouraged.

 Apart from government other organisations like NGOs should also spread awareness
relating to the RTI Act and should reach the vulnerable group of our society such as
women, children, backward classes.

 It is seen from the past few years that whistle blower is not safe in the country. There
is rampant increase in the number of attacks and death. So, government should take
legal actions to curb these attacks and enhance the punishment for such wrongdoers.

 It is crucial to democratize information and knowledge resources for people

empowerment to augment opportunities for improving quality of life.

CHAPTER-5
13
Borah, Sri Keshbananda, RTI: a key to good governance, International Journal of Humanities and Social
Science Invention, ISSN (Online): 2319 – 7722, Volume 2 Issue2.
14
Ibid.
 CONCLUSION
The RTI Act is special act for obtaining information from public authorities and
making them accountable for their action therefore curbing arbitrariness and corruption
providing for a transparent system. It helps in keeping check on the government
instruments. It has proven to be a crucial component for the healthy democracy because it
provides citizen with a right to demand what activities and decisions are being made. The
act is a hope for the society to reduce corruption by making the bureaucrats accountable
and getting access to the information which is crucial for public interest. The Right to
Information Act has created deep impact on transparency and accountability in the
administration. It brings about a sense of empowerment to the citizens to verify the actions
of the administrative authorities. But there are some problems which are hindrance in the
way of effective implementation of RTI Act. Without awareness of the act the citizen
cannot claim their right to information through RTI Act so awareness is must. To exercise
a Right a citizen must firstly know about his right and the attack against whistle blower is
a major problem which needed to be looked upon. Then only accountability is possible
through RTI Act.