Right To Information Act, 2005: A Response to Privileged Class Deviance

In our digitalised world, information is the key to every lock and before such digitalisation era also, it was the key to numerous locks. Information empowers a person in ways more than one can imagine. It ensures one’s right to freely express and disseminate information as well as to put a check upon the public authorities by making them more responsible and accountable. This is why a constitutional guarantee has been accorded upon the right to information by our constitutional Courts by including the same within the purview of the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression. The Parliament has also obliged such interpretation of this human right and enacted the Right to Information Act, 2005. The mere presence of guarantee of such fundamental right restraints, to a considerable extent, the public authorities from indulging in any deviance including corrupt practices. However, this guarantee has also not been made absolute and reasonable restrictions have been imposed for maintaining the public interest, security of the State as well as for effective working of the government. The researcher will discuss the abovementioned aspects, including the procedural aspects as well as the limitations of the Act in his research paper.