National Seminar
Right to Information: Perception, Perspective & Promotion
Rajiv Gandhi National Law University
Theme: Right to Information and Media Law
The enactment of the Right to Information Act, 2005 is a historic movement. It
replaces the culture of concealment and control with honesty and involvement.
But the legal framework in this field so far has upshot a little change. Is this
another law that promises much, but offers little?
RTI is a process to secure access to information and setting out unacceptable
means in order to promote transparency and accountability in governance.
The media is looked upon as the fourth estate and the freedom of media is
necessary for a democratic state. The Press Council of India works to regulate the
ethics of the print media and to protect freedom of the press.
Under section 19(1) (a) of the Indian constitution, the citizens of India have been
given the right to freedom of speech and expression. But without this information,
this right is curtailed. Evaluation of the public authorities and the governance is
impossible without accurate, updated and prime knowledge. The judiciary has the
Contempt of Court provisions and the legislature have the parliamentary
privileges. It is impossible for the journalist to go into the depth of any matter
properly under these limitations.
The media world has spread out, thus widening the outlook. Subsequently, the
laws governing them are also numerous. It is not within the scope of this paper to
deal with the whole subject of media laws, but this section makes a person aware
of the various important legislations involving the diverse branches of Media
Communication, making him aware of his rights and assisting him to use them
within the framework of law existing in India and at last furthering the cause
of “Freedom Of Speech And Expression” and “Transmission of Knowledge.”
Nowadays, with the legislation of the Right to Information, it has become a weapon for the common people and media as well.
“If anyone could point out an intermediate and yet a tenable
position between the complete independence and the entire
subjection of the expression of public opinion, I should
perhaps be inclined to adopt it; but the difficulty is to
discover this position.”
-DE TOCQUEVILLE
Authors Profile
1. DHRUV TRIPATHIB.A.LLB 2nd Year Contact: 8410160036Email ID: [email protected]: University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, DehradunAddress: Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited203, 2nd floor, Ocean PlazaP-5, Sector-18 Noida (U.P.) – 201301
2. BARKHA CHHABRAB.A.LLB 2nd Year Contact: 9454031847Email ID: [email protected]: University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, DehradunAddress: P-14, Ras Bahar Colony, Shivpuri RoadJhansi (U.P.)-284003