Right to Information: A Quest for Constitutional Jurisprudence

Abstract

In Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting v. Cricket Association of Bengal, (a three judge Bench, B.P Jeevan Reddy. J concurring) Supreme Court has declared that “The freedom of speech and expression guaranteed Article 19 (1) (a) includes right to acquire information and to disseminate it”. Article 19 (1) (a) does not specifically define the meaning of “Freedom of Speech and Expression” and has also not declared what it ought to be and ought not to be and very eloquently connected the indispensability of information and exercise of speech or expression in a democratic country like India. Therefore, the recognition of “Right to Information” as Fundamental Right is one of the milestones in the way of development of Constitutional jurisprudence of India. Later on in 2005, another milestone was constructed when as part of statutory recognition, Right to Information Act has been enacted by Parliament of India, which has framed up necessary guidelines. In the context of this Constitutional and legal frameworks, basically three aspects have been looked into. Firstly, by tracing the origin of this Constitutional development, the Supreme Court recognised “Freedom of Press” as Fundamental Right. This declaration paved the way for discovering many unnamed rights into Article 19 (1) (a). Secondly, as far as “Right to Information” is concerned, the judgments which are credited to make the prelude to “Right to Information” becoming the Fundamental Right have been deeply analysed. Thirdly, Rule of interpretation of Constitution especially Fundamental Rights have also been deliberated upon along with the significance of Fundamental Rights. Finally, the judgment in Ministry of Information and Broadcasting v. Cricket Association of Bengal, has been critically analysed only to find out that that there are ten numerous flaws inherent in the judgment for which “Right to Information” stands on a very weak jurisprudential (Fundamental Rights) foundation. This achievement could not become a full bloomed success-it is partial in nature, for which the article gives some recommendations to make “Right to Information” a strong and positive Fundamental Right.