Janees Rafiq, Lovely Professional University
AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN EVIDENCE ACT:
“SUNLIGHT IS THE BEST DISINFECTANT” and so is being informed about government practices in a democratic nation. For any Democratic nation that general public should know about the undertakings of the State to be participative in real sense. This is combined with a contention that nothing ought to be kept covered up to the extent that matters identifying with open issues are concerned. In the meantime, it is additionally critical for the working of State machinery that specific delicate information is kept guarded from general public. Such information can be circumspect in certain cases where security of the State is in question for instance, and therefore in the interest of public certain disclosures are not made. This can be derived from the maxim 'Salus populi est suprema lex' which means “regard for public welfare is the highest law and hence validating the non-disclosure of certain information for the greater public good.” Such privileges can be traced in almost all of the modern legal systems of the world. This paper deals with the growing eclipse of privilege given to the government in the interest of transparency and accountability. It also states the statutory interpretation of the privilege law and its improvement in India and furthermore examines the eclipse of privilege law with the Right to Information Act, 2005 as a measure for greater accountability and disclosure. The consciousness about the State enables the people to make informed choices which are extremely vital for a successful democracy.1 However, such informed choices can only be made if the people not only have the freedom but also the right to know about the public affairs of the State. It, therefore, makes it obligatory for the legislature to account for transparency and accountability to people and in fact, few scholars have gone ahead to argue that “the politicians should not be administered an oath of secrecy, but an oath of transparency.”
