Project: Right to Information and Role of

Media.

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Miss Priya Gupta Parneet Kaur Saroy

B.A.L.L.B(hons.)

7th Semester, Section A

Roll no. 55/13

Acknowledgement
I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to my
guide Miss Priya Gupta for her exemplary guidance, monitoring and constant
encouragement throughout the course of this project. The blessing, help and
guidance given by her time to time shall carry a long way in the journey of life
on which we are about to embark.

Parneet Kaur Saroy

Contents
 Introduction...........................................................................

 Meaning of Information......................................................

 Media....................................................................................

 Right to Information and Role of Media..........................

 Suggested Areas for Action by the Media........................

 Monitor Implementation of the Act.................................

 Effectiveness & Efficiency of Public Service Delivery....

 Corruption - related Issues...............................................

 Citizen Grievances............................................................

 Views of various Jurists...................................................

 Role of the Media and the Anna Hazare Movement....

 Conclusion.........................................................................
Chanakya who was the mentor of the great Emperor Chandragupta Mourya of the 4th century
BC written in Sanskrit:

“Vijnanena Atmanam Sampadayet”

“Sampaditatma Jitatma Bhavati”

Meaning: Equip yourself fully with wordily knowledge. One who has acquired knowledge
becomes one who has conquered himself. The stress is on every one to be proactive in
learning. A non-capable, if allowed to rise to or placed at any position of power, will not be
able to control their actions towards achieving the organisational goals. His energies will be
spent on preserving his position by whatever means, and his decisions will thus not
necessarily be in the interest of the organisation.1

Introduction

Information is the lifeblood that sustains political, social and business decisions.2 Information
is regarded as the oxygen of democracy. It invigorates where it percolates. If people do not
know what is happening in their society, if the actions of those who rule them are hidden,
then they cannot take a meaningful part in the affairs of the society. Freedom of expression,
free dissemination of ideas and access to information are vital to the functioning of a
democratic government. Information is crucial for a vibrant democracy and good governance
as it reflects and captures Government activities and processes. Access to information not
only facilitates active participation of the people in the democratic governance process, but
also promotes openness, transparency and accountability in administration. ‘Right to
Information’ (RTI), the right of every citizen to access information held by or under the
control of public authorities, can thus be an effective tool for ushering in good governance.

The media are rightly regarded as the fourth estate of a democracy. A free and responsible
media can facilitate the development of the people rather than a controlled media. The media
provide information to the people about the policies and programmes of the government and
non-government organizations which are required to function in a transparent, accountable
and responsible manner. Right to information is an effective instrument of good governance.

1
Dr. Niraj Kumar, Right to Information Act, 2005, Bharat Law House(2014).
2
J. [Link] & Dr. G.B. Reddy, Right to Information and Law, 3 rd Edition(2003), Gogia Law Agency, Page-5
of 680.
There is a well established relationship between right to information and good governance.
The access to information and accessibility of information has increased with growth of print
and electronic media and the Internet. The Right to Information regime has enabled the media
to cater to the needs of people in times of peace, crises and disasters. The media also realized
the significance of right to information from the points of view of good governance and
judicious development in India. The media institutions provide a platform that enables
government functionaries to operate efficiently, effectively and transparently and be
accountable to the public who are the makers of democracy. With the right to information on
their side, the media need no longer depend on questionable sources of information, and can
use RTI Act to access credible and authentic information. The media professionals have used
the RTI as a tool to collect information. The media can demand the information from various
government agencies regarding the implementation of welfare programmes. The media serve
as a link system between the government and society and play a crucial role as instruments of
good governance. The media can access the information and prepare grounds for democratic
struggle for good governance in modern society.3

The media can make a real difference to the lives of poor and disadvantaged people by:
 making people more aware of their rights and entitlements;
 enabling people to have access to government programmes, schemes and benefits;
 making people more aware of political issues and options and helping to stimulate
debate;
 educating the public on social, economic and environmental issues;
 drawing attention to institutional failings – corruption, fraud, waste, inefficiency,
cronyism, nepotism, abuse of power and the like;
 fostering exchange of best practices, knowledge resources, access to better
technology, and to better choices;
 creating pressure for improved government performance, accountability and quality,
for example in service delivery; and
 providing a discursive space for citizens to dialogue with other actors in the
governance process.4

[Link]
_T.pdf
4
RTI Cell, ATI Kohima, Right to Information Act and the Role of Media.
Meaning of Information
The original root of the word “information” is the Latin word infomare, which means to
shape, or create, to give form to. Information is an idea that has been given a form, such as
the spoken or written word. It is a means of representing an image or thought so that it can be
communicated from one mind to another rather than worrying about all the information afloat
in the world. Since we are living in an information based society, access to information has
become inevitable, to the individuals and also the institutions. A person well informed stands
in a better position to exercise his legal rights better than those who don’t have access to any
information or who is ill-informed.
The concept of Right to Information is related to the collective efforts of the public and
government. The collective efforts can be fulfilled by the two ways first, by the direct method
and secondly, indirect method. In direct method every citizen of the democratic society can
participate in the governance directly, however, in the second method the citizen can
participate in the governance through asking the questions of government activities and it is
related to Right to Information.5
Right to Information is defined by the different Acts on the different lines but the common
sense of the definition is the same i.e., “it means the right to access to information relating to
the affairs of the state or public bodies by means of:
 obtaining certified copies of documents or records, or
 inspection of accessible records and taking notes and extracts, or
 inspection of public work, or
 taking of samples of material from public works.6

Media
The word media is the plural of medium. It is derived from the Latin word medius, which
means middle. The communication media are the different technological processes that
facilitate communication between (and are in the middle of) the sender of a message and the
receiver of that message.7
McQuail (2000), in acknowledging the rapidly changing environment in which the mass
media operate, offers us a useful set of criteria through which we can define the

5
S.D. Sharma & Priti Saxena, Right to Information, Regal Publications, (2013), page-6.
6
Ibid, 11.
7
David Croteau & William Hoynes, Media/Society, Sage Publications, 5 th Edition(2014), page-8.
contemporary mass media. He sees the mass media’s significance as arising from ‘its
universality of reach, great popularity and public character’. McQuail argues that these
features have profound consequences for the cultural life and political organization of
contemporary societies:
In respect of Politics, media have gradually become:
 an essential element in the process of democratic politics by providing an arena and
channel for wide debate, for making candidates for office widely known and for
distributing information and opinion;
 a means of exercising power by virtue of the relatively privileged access that
politicians and agents of government can generally claim from the media as a
legitimate right,
In respect of culture:
 it constitute a primary source of definitions of and images of social reality and the
most ubiquitous expression of shared identity;
 are the largest focus of leisure time interest, providing the shared ‘cultural
environment’ for most people and more so than any other single institution.8

Right to Information and Role of Media

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations
states:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to
hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
The short section on media in the Plan of Action (C.9) states that “The media ….. have an
essential role in the development of the Information Society and are recognised as an
important contributor to freedom of expression and plurality of information.”

In fact, mass media is the most important vehicle for information, knowledge and
communication in a democratic polity:
 They are pervasive and play a significant role in shaping societies; they provide the
public sphere of information and debate that enables social and cultural discourse,
participation and accountability.

8
Eoin Devereux, Understanding the Media, Sage Publications, 2 nd Edition(2011), page-11.
  They are the most accessible, cost-effective and widespread source of information
and platform for expression.

Information is power. The media can play a crucial role in building an inclusive
Information Society based on knowledge power and its distribution. For media to fulfil its
potential, actions are required in three key areas:
 To protect and extend media freedom and independence, and rights of access to
information;
 To actively develop the potential of media to provide information, a forum for debate
on topics of public interest, cultural expression and opportunity to communicate,
especially to the poor and marginalised;
 To strengthen the capacity of media to promote and help build an Information Society
– raising awareness, channelling civil society concerns, debating policies and
holding government, private sector and civil society accountable.

Traditional systems of information access in India have made journalists dependent on

sources they must cultivate. Whether bureaucrats or politicians, much depends on the
privilege and patronage of the individual source. Such relationships of patronage not only
make journalists depend on very feudal relationships, it often makes them use the information
regardless of its veracity.
An RTI regime can enable credible, evidence-based and factual reporting on key issues of
public interest. It can enable the media to expose mal-administration, corruption and
inefficiency and to propagate stories and instances relating to accountability, transparency,
effective administration and good governance. By using the RTI Act, the media can play an
important role in highlighting issues related to public service delivery and the efficacy and
accountability of public officials.
Under the RTI Act, the journalists & reporters, like citizens, can:
• Demand from the Government information pertaining to any of its departments
• Demand photocopies of Government contracts, payment, estimates, measurements of
engineering works etc.
• Demand from the Government certified samples of material used in the construction of
roads, drains, buildings etc.
• Demand to inspect any public development work that may be still under construction or
completed
• Demand to inspect Government documents - construction drawings, records books,
registers, quality control reports etc.
• Demand status of requests or complaints, details of time delays, action taken on Information
Commission’s decisions etc.9

The Press Council on March 2001, had stated that the Right to Information Legislation as
very vital for the media. It stated that- “ At present, one of the stumbling blocks in the path of
investigative, analytical and popular journalism is the difficulty in getting access to the
official information. The bureaucracy, the police the army, judiciary and even the legislature
guard information regarding even the most mundane subjects with astonishing zeal. Few
journalists are able to break this iron curtain of the official non-cooperation. The right to
Information will encourage journalists and society at large to be more questioning about the
state of affairs and will be powerful tool to check the unmitigated goings-on in the public
realm and will also promoter accountability. No longer will scribes have to depend on
conjecture, rumour, leaks and sources other than knowledgeable sources. The legislation
when enacted will pose an antidote to vested interests which try to conceal or misinterpret
information or which try to manipulate media directly or indirectly to plant misinformation.
Through this legislation, transparency in public, professional, social and personal sphere can
be achieved.”
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 access to information, this right was
incomplete. Right to receive and right to impart information have been held to be a part of
freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by sub-clause (a) of clause (1) of Article 19 of
the Constitution subject of course to the reasonable restrictions, if any, that may be placed on
such right in terms of and to the extent permitted by clause (2) of the said Article. It has been
held by the Supreme Court in Secretary, Ministry of I & B, Government of India v Cricket
Association of Bengal (1995) 2 SCC 161 that: “The freedom of speech and expression
includes right to acquire information and to disseminate it. Freedom of speech and expression
is necessary, for self-expression which is an important means of free conscience and self-
fulfilment. It enables people to contribute to debates on social and moral issues. It is the best

9
Supra, 2.
way to find a truest model of anything, since it is only through it that the widest possible
range of ideas can circulate. It is the only vehicle of political discourse so essential to
democracy. Equally important is the role it plays in facilitating artistic and scholarly
endeavours of all sorts. The right to communicate, therefore, includes right to communicate
through any media that is available whether print or electronic or audio-visual such as
advertisement, movie, article, speech, etc. That is why freedom of speech and expression
includes freedom of the press. The freedom of the press in turn includes right to circulate and
also to determine the volume of such circulation. This freedom includes the freedom to
communicate or circulate one’s opinion without interference to as large a population in the
country, as well as abroad, as is possible to reach.”

In ‘The Cricket Association of Bengal’ case, it was held that the right to impart and receive
information from electronic media is a part of the right to freedom of speech and expression.
In Bennett Coleman10, the right to information was held to be included within the right to
freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Article19 (1) (a).· In Raj Narain 11, the
Court explicitly stated: ‘The people of this country have a right to know every public act,
everything that is done in a public way by their public functionaries. They are entitled to
know the particulars of every public transaction in all its bearings.

Evaluation of the public authorities and the governance is impossible without factual,
current/updated and primary information. The public authorities always kept guard on each
information. The tragedy was that the bureaucrats were having the weapon of Officials Secret
Act, which played over the right of speech and expression, and the some constraints lay down
by the constitution. Therefore, the rights of the citizens remained confined. Similarly, the
judiciary has the Contempt of Court provisions and the legislature have the parliamentary
privileges. It was impossible for the journalist to go into the depth of any matter properly
under these constraints. Now, with the legislation of the Right to Information, it has become a
tremendous weapon for the common people and the media as well.12
It is important that the media plays the role of an honest broker of information for its readers
without deliberate bias or favouritism. The media must consider its independence to be its
most valuable commercial, editorial and moral asset. Maintaining its independence through
10
Bennett Coleman v. UOI AIR 1973 SC 106.
11
1975 AIR 865
12
[Link]
information
professional behaviour and a code of conduct that is subscribed to by all journalists, the
media can be a powerful user of the RTI Act and an agent for the empowerment of people
through an Information Society. The objective of the Act to usher in a practical regime of
right to information cannot be attained without a proactive role played by the media.13

Suggested Areas for Action by the Media

The following section provides cues for the media to use the RTI Act in discharging the
following roles:
• In monitoring implementation of the Act
• In reporting on the effectiveness & efficiency of public service delivery
• In highlighting corruption and fraud related issues
• In highlighting citizen grievances
• In highlighting significant cases or efforts made by organisations/individuals on RTI.

Media Role: Monitor Implementation of the Act.

Appropriate Government
• Have appropriate rules been framed? Are they in conformance with the spirit of the Act?
• Is there a centralised monitoring mechanism? What systems have been put in place to
monitor the implementation of the Act?
• What efforts have been made to sensitise and train government servants and elected
representatives?
• What public education and mass awareness activities have been undertaken?
• Has the government developed and published user guides for citizens on the RTI Act?
• What actions have been undertaken to ensure compliance with the Act and Rules by public
authorities?

Information Commissions
• Disposal of Complaints and Appeals and qualitative analysis;
• Specific case studies on appeals and complaints
• Directions to Public Authorities to comply with Act provisions;
• Decisions requiring public authorities to compensate complainants

13
Supra, 3.
• Imposition of Penalties and recommendation of Disciplinary Action against PIOs
Description of cases and lessons for the future;
• Recommendations made to Government for effective implementation of the Act;
• Key findings from the Commission’s Annual Report

Media Role: Report on Effectiveness & Efficiency of Public Service Delivery

Public Distribution System
• Verification of the number and details of beneficiaries
• Stock verification exercise - assess the total stock received by the fair price shop, total stock
distributed, balance available
• Supply verification to assess the total sale of provisions to crosscheck whether all
cardholders received the rations provided to them as per entitlements
• Whether list of BPL cardholders is displayed at the fair price shop
• Whether list of commodities and rates fixed by the Government are displayed for public
scrutiny
• Examination of other registers supplied by Civil Supplies Officer/Mandal Revenue Officer.
• Functioning of fair price shops – days open, working hours, stock availability etc.

Primary Education subject to exemptions under section 8(1)

• Attendance of teachers (Teacher Attendance Registers)
• Attendance of students (Pupil Attendance Registers)
• Teaching standards in the schools (Curriculum and daily lessons)
• Enrolment and drop-out rate of students (boys/girls)
• Academic performance of schools
• Implementation of Mid-Day Meal Programme
• Infrastructure standards in the schools (Class rooms, black boards, teaching aids,
equipments, toilets – general and girls etc.)

Public Works
• Contractual procedure
• Rate at which work awarded
• Basis for decision to undertake this work
• Contract clauses for work monitoring & completion
• Status of work
• Work monitoring
• Copy of sketch of each work
• Inspection of work
• Samples of materials used in work undertaken

Media Role: Highlight Corruption - related Issues

• Details of complaints of corruption received and the nature of allegations against each one
of them subject to exemptions under section 8.
• Copies of the complaints
• List of complaints that were closed without any investigation and reasons.
• List of complaints closed after investigation and copies of enquiry reports on the basis of
which the complaints were closed.
• Cases where penal action has been initiated and details of penal action initiated.
• Cases where criminal complaints have been filed and their status. Cases that are pending
and expected timeline for investigation to be completed.

Media Role: Highlight Citizen Grievances

• List of all the grievances received from the public during the year or quarter and copies of
the grievances.
• Action taken on each grievance
• Time limits for each grievance to be resolved as per rules/Citizen’s Charter
• Penalty prescribed against the officials if they do not adhere to these time limits.

Media Role: Highlight significant Cases or Efforts made by Organisations, RTI

Champions & Citizens
• Publicity stories on cases where citizens managed to access information revealing public
inefficiency or corruption
• Publicity stories on successful appeals to Information Commission
• Publicity stories on cases where information was wrongly withheld by PIOs
• Publicity stories on specific decisions by Information Commissions.
• Profiles of organizations promoting RTI
• Personality stories on Information Commissioners, prominent personalities and activists
involved in the RTI campaign
• Write-ups on Right to Information in general
• Significant initiatives undertaken by civil society organizations and community based
organizations
• Editorials
• Social Audit Case Studies

Reporting Social Audit

RTI is the single most significant law which enhances the scope of social audit of public
policies and programmes to hold public officials socially accountable. The Act secures for
every citizen the enforceable right to know, examine, audit, review and assess Government
activities and decisions and also ensure that these are consistent with the principles of public
interest, probity and justice. By securing access to relevant information and knowledge, the
citizens would be able to assess Government performance and participate in and influence the
process of policy formulation and programme implementation, particularly on issues relating
to public service delivery.
Using the RTI Act, the civil society including the media can facilitate social audit of
Government processes, activities, programmes, schemes etc., and help improve public service
delivery and the efficacy and accountability of public officials. They can use the RTI Act to
inspect various processes, programmes and schemes of any public authority. They can even
examine the works undertaken by any Government Department at any stage and draw
samples of materials that are in use. They can also collect and verify records, documents and
samples of particular works undertaken by the Government. The media can play a key role in
publicising the results of social audit.14

Views of various Jurists: Relationship between RTI and Media.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru called media ‘the watchdog of our democracy’. This handed the
media a huge responsibility in the functioning of our society. Thus media plays the role of
communicator in democracy. They make people aware and conscious of their state of affairs
by providing them with in depth insight on important issues concerning people. Though
freedom of press is essential and indispensable for the successful functioning of the Indian

14
Supra, 2.
democracy, it is very often silenced by the executive, gagged by the legislature, suppressed
by judiciary, repressed and muzzled by the pressure groups.15

Justice Sawant emphasizes the relationship between RTI Act and media thus: “But as a
matter of a legally accessible right, the media and ordinary citizens have equal access to
information under the act. This is provided for in the Constitution in the form of Right to
Equality (Article 14). The media is the prime beneficiary of RTI as media personnel have the
time to pursue information, use it and take it to its logical conclusion. The role was to
function as a constructive opposition in a democracy and not as an adversary of Government.
The media personnel must oppose what is bad and also suggest changes for improvement
since the political opposition has not played this role, as they fear losing votes. The
independent institutions like the media (though, the media may not be independent in all
cases) can play an important and constructive role in the long-term well being of the nation
and is the only entity within the state equipped to play such a role. With the right to
information on their side, the media need no longer depend on questionable sources of
information, and can use RTI Act to access credible and authentic information. This
legislation is a powerful tool in the hands of the media to get the required information within
a definite time period by applying for it. The right to information heralds a new age of
investigative and authentic journalism in India.

Sathe, S.P. thus spoke: “The new central RTI legislation will create a paradigm shift creating
a feeling of trust between people and the State and a harmonious relationship between them.
Indian politics has become adversarial and acrimonious; the right to information could reduce
this to a large extent. There is a need today to sensitize and educate the bureaucracy
entrenched for years in a culture of secrecy. The RTI law lays emphasis on proactive
disclosure of information. The media have three important functions to play. They are to
inform and educate the people about RTI; to generate debate; and to disseminate a democratic
culture of tolerance towards alternative points of view. The media play an important role in
constructively criticizing the functioning of government institutions (Parliament,
Government, Supreme Court etc). With the RTI law this can be done in a better manner by
the media”.

15
[Link]
Surie and Aiyar observe: “Journalists have used the RTI as a tool to collect information.
Shyamlal Yadav filed over 1800 RTI applications to gather information for his investigative
stories. He found that 71 out of the 78 ministers of the UPA government had made a total of
786 foreign trips over a three and a half year period at government expenses. This raised
considerable public interest and gained a lot of media attention, eventually prompting the
Prime Minister to write to the ministers asking them to curtail foreign travel expenditures.
These examples and other case studies suggest that the RTI Act has been used in an
innovative way by individuals and citizen groups seeking a range of information on
government schemes, development projects, benefits and entitlements”.16

Role of the Media and the Anna Hazare Movement

The Anna Hazare movement, which appears to have now subsided, raises crucial issues
relating to the role of the media.

The first and foremost role of the media is to provide accurate and objective information to
the public to enable it to form rational opinions, which is a sine qua non in a democracy.
Obviously the people cannot go everywhere to collect information about important events,
and hence the media acts as an agency of the people for supplying such information. Hence it
plays a vital role in a democracy.

The problem, however, arises, when journalists do not maintain detachment and objectivity,
and instead identify themselves with the event. This is precisely what happened to a large
section of the media in December last year during the Anna Hazare stir. Most journalists
practically became part of the movement instead of remaining detached observers and
reporters. It reminded one of the Babri Masjid Ram Janmabhumi agitation when a section of
the media (particularly a large section of the Hindi press) practically became kar sewaks.
In those days one never heard of a critical analysis by the media of the Janlokpal Bill, whose
enactment Anna was insisting upon. Probably nobody had even read it.

Apart from the above, there is a second role of the media, which is particularly important in
the transitional period (from feudal agricultural to the modern industrial era) through which

16
Supra, 2.
our country is passing, and that is of giving leadership and guidance to the people in the
realm of ideas.
In this transition period the role of ideas, and therefore of the media, becomes extremely
important. The media is not an ordinary business which deals with commodities, it deals with
ideas. To help society get over the transition period faster and with less pain the media should
promote modern scientific ideas and combat backward feudal ideas and practices like
casteism, communalism, and superstitions. In this connection I may refer to the glorious role
played by the European media when Europe was passing through its transition. Voltaire
attacked religious bigotry, Rousseau attacked the entire feudal system and Thomas Paine
proclaimed the Rights of Man. In my opinion the Indian media should play a similar role.
Instead of pandering to the low intellectual level of our masses and perpetuating it, it should
seek to uplift it so as to make the masses part of enlightened India.17

Conclusion
The media can demand the information from various government agencies regarding the
implementation of welfare programmes. They can also obtain the photocopies of Government
contracts, payment, estimates, measurements of engineering works etc. They can procure the
certified samples of material used in the construction of roads, drains, buildings etc from the
government departments. They can inspect any public development work that may be still
under construction or completed. They can peruse the government documents - construction
drawings, records books, registers, quality control reports etc. They can also receive action
taken reports on various inquiries and developmental works. They can provide timely and
relevant information to the activists and other agencies to facilitate corruption free
development activities. The media serve as a link system between the government and society
and play a crucial role as instruments of good governance. Studies have revealed that the
objective of the Act to usher in a practical regime of right to information cannot be attained
without a proactive role played by the media. They have reported that media can monitor the
implementation of various development projects, investigate the corrupt practices, sensitize
the stakeholders of development, persuade the social activists to fight against injustice and
empower the marginalized sections of society. The media can access the information and
prepare grounds for democratic struggle for good governance in modern society.

17
[Link]
The role of media in India, the largest democracy of the world is different from merely
disseminating information and entertainment. Educating the masses for their social upliftment
needs to be in its ambit as well. In a country where there is large scale poverty,
unemployment and underdevelopment media has a responsibility towards developmental
journalism. It has a role to play behind formation of public opinion which can force the
political parties to address the core issues haunting the country’s progress. It is thus referred
as fourth pillar of democracy. However; public opinion can be manipulated by vested
interests to serve their own goals.18

“Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to

conscience, above all liberties” – John Milton.

18
Supra, 12.
References
 David Croteau & William Hoynes, Media/Society, Sage Publications, 5th
Edition(2014),
 Dr. Niraj Kumar, Right to Information Act, 2005, Bharat Law
House(2014).
 Eoin Devereux, Understanding the Media, Sage Publications, 2nd
Edition(2011)
 [Link] & Dr. G.B. Reddy, Right to Information and Law, 3rd
Edition(2003), Gogia Law Agency
 S.D. Sharma & Priti Saxena, Right to Information, Regal Publications,
(2013),
 RTI Cell, ATI Kohima, Right to Information Act and the Role of Media.
 [Link]
role-of-media-and-the-right-to-information
 [Link]
THE_RIGHT_TO_INFORMATION_AND_T.pdf
 [Link]
[Link]
 [Link]
governance/