The Hindu : National : Notice to Centre, States on Information Act

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Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004

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Notice to Centre, States on Information Act

By Our Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI, NOV. 16 . The Supreme Court today issued notice to the Centre,States and Union Territories on a petition seeking a direction to the Union Government to notify the Freedom of Information Act, 2002.

A Bench, comprising Justice N. Santosh Hegde and Justice S. B. Sinha, issued the notice on a public interest litigation filed by Sanjay Goel, who sought a mandamus to the Centre to inform whether the Act would be brought into force or not.

The petitioner submitted that Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly laid down that "everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, this right includes freedom to hold opinion without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and the ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." The object of the Freedom of Information Bill introduced in Parliament by the previous Government was that in the present system there was lack of free flow of information for citizens and non-governmental organisations, which was an impediment to the objective of having a stable governance. The petitioner stated that the Bill after being passed by both the Houses of Parliament received the assent of the President on January 6, 2003. The Act had not been notified in the official Gazette.

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