'Provide right to information to people'

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, APRIL 8. The Press Council of India Chairman, Mr. Justice P. B. Sawant, has urged the State Governments to enact legislation to provide right to information to people taking shelter under the provisions of the Constitution in the State List.

Delivering the keynote address at a two-day conference on ``The Right to Information and the Media,'' jointly organised by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) and the Department of Information here, Mr. Sawant said that the crux of the matter was that the people had the right to know everything that affected their interests whether from the Government, local bodies, public sector or even private sector.

Mr. Sawant, however, cautioned the state governments against repeating the ``mistake'' committed by the Madhya Pradesh Government which sent such legislation for Presidential assent and got it rejected. He said the states should follow the model of Tamil Nadu and Goa which had their own enactments conferring the right to information on the people.

Mr. Sawant pointed out that though Article 19(1)(A) of the Constitution empowered fundamental rights of expression and speech, which included the freedom of the press, Article 19(2) laid down restrictions.

``Legally speaking, we do have right to information. Then why do we need an ordinary legislation?'', Mr. Sawant asked and said there was a need to define these restrictions imposed by Article 19(2) of the Constitution. The ``reasonable restrictions'' imposed by Article 19(2) of the Constitution were vague and required to be defined. He said the Official Secrets' Act, the Telegraphs Act and even the Oath of Secrecy taken by a minister at the time of assuming office posed certain problems while defining Article 19(2) of the Constitution resulting in appealing to High Courts and the Supreme Court.

Mr. Sawant made a strong plea to bring the private sector under the purview of the proposed legislation for right to information. This contradiction should be changed at the earliest.''

Mr. Sawant said that the right to information was an essential tool in the participatory democracy and without that a meaningful democracy was not possible.

The Chief Editor of DECCAN HERALD, Mr. K. N. Hari Kumar, underlined the urgent need to extend the right to information to people, particularly to the media. He regretted that though much had been talked about it nothing concrete had been done so far.

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Section  : Regional
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