Supreme Court sowed seeds of RTI in 2002

Supreme Court sowed seeds of RTI in 2002 Dhananjay Mahapatra | TNN New Delhi: French poet, playwright and novelist Victor-Marie Hugo, exponent of ‘Romantic Movement’, wrote the immortal words — “invasion of armies can be resisted, but an invasion of ideas cannot be resisted” — in his mid-19th century novel ‘The History of a Crime’. Exactly 150 years after Hugo wrote his book, the Supreme Court in 2002 delivered its pathbreaking judgment on electoral reforms [Union of India vs Association for Democratic Reforms (2002) 5 SCC (294)]. It knew the necessity of new ideas to sustain the health of a democracy and sowed the first seeds of right to information. It mandated the Election Commission to seek information on the antecedents — including assets, educational qualification and criminal background — of candidates in the fray to enable voters to exercise informed choice. The central idea behind this judgment — the voter’s informed choice being the key to democracy — was distilled long ago by Sir Winston Churchill, who had said, “At the bottom of all high-sounding tributes paid to democracy is the little man, walking into a little booth, with a little pencil, making a little cross on a little bit of paper. No amount of rhetoric or voluminous discussion can possibly palliate the overwhelming importance of the point.” Nonetheless, it sparked a brand new idea in the Indian context. It was about time to arm the voters, either muscled or misled by money, with information. And no one, not even an army of politicians, could resist it. The rapturous applause that followed the 2002 judgment had numbed even the most cunning among unscrupulously powerful politicians.

"Loved reading this piece by ramesh ?
Join LAWyersClubIndia's network for daily News Updates, Judgment Summaries, Articles, Forum Threads, Online Law Courses, and MUCH MORE!!"

Join our Telegram group

Join our Whatsapp group