REVIEW OF LAWS, IMPLEMENTATION OF TREATIES AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS j 55 E] Freedom of Information Bill, 2000 5.24 The Commission undertook an in-depth examination of the Freedom of Information BiU 2000, pursuant to Its statutory responsibility under Section 12 (d) of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. It received comments and suggestions in this regard from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and from Dr Rajeev Dhawan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court. Thereafter, based on the Commission's own examination and deliberations, it finalised its comments on the Bill and sent them to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for appropriate action. 5.25 The Commission took the view that the title of the Bill should be changed from 'The Freedom of Information Bill' to 'The Right to Information Bill' in order to make the proposed Bill conform to articles 19(l)(a) and 19(2) of the Constitution. The Preamble of the Bill, proceeded on the basis that the Bill conferred, for the first time, the freedom to access information. Instead, according to the Commission, the Preamble should have conveyed that the Bill provides a system for access to a right which already exists. The Commission stated that the Bill should be examined in the light of Article 19 (l)(a) which guarantees to every citizen the right to freedom of speech and expression as a fundamental right and, in particular, that Section 8 of the Bill should be re-examined to ensure that the provisions are within the ambit of permissible restrictions under Article 19(2). 5.26 According to the Commission's opinion, it has been judicially recogniised that the right to freedom of speech and expression in Article 19 (1) (a) includes the right to acquire information. The State is not merely imder an obligation to respect the fundamental rights guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution but is also under an obligation to operationalise the meaningful exercise of these rights. Thus, the State is imder an obligation not only to respect but also to ensiue conditions in which the right of acquiring information, which is part of freedom of speech and expression, can be meaningfully and effectively enjoyed. The Supreme Court held in S.P. Gupta vs. Union of India AIR 1982 SC 149 that the right to know is implicit in the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed in Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution, and reiterated this in Reliance vs. Indian Express (1988) 4 SCC 592 in which it said that the 'Right to know is a basic right which citizens of a free country aspire to in the broader horizon of the right to live in this age in our land under Article 21 of our Constitution'. Since the right to information is an integral part of the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (l)(a), any restrictions on this right must fall within the permissible parameters of Article 19(2). ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002