Compendium of case law on right to information act, (2005) / edited by Ashok Kumar Choudhary

The Right to Information Act, 2005 came into force on 12th October, 2005 (120th day of its enactment on 15th June, 2005). It is an historic legislation for a vibrant democracy which we have adopted for our country. Although, the Right to Information is incorporated in Article 19(1)(a) "Freedom of Speech and Expression", the Act provides for "practical regime of right to information". The right to know has evolved with maturity in the democratic form of governance. The Act is meant to harmonize the conflicting interests of Government to preserve the confidentiality of sensitive information with the rights of citizens to know the functioning of the governmental process in such a way as to preserve the paramountcy of the democratic idea. While considering the width and sweep of the right as well as its fundamental importance in a democratic republic, such a right is subject to reasonable restrictions. Thus, a note of caution has been sounded by the Apex Court in Dinesh Trivedi, M.P. and Ors. V. Union of India and Ors. sc/1138/1997; (1997) 4 SCC 306 where it has been held as follows:

"Sunlight is the best disinfectant. But it is equally important to be alive to the dangers that lie ahead. It is important to realize 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".