Introduction of the doctrine of basic structure can be considered as an attempt of the Supreme Court of

India to balance the needs of the changing times with the identity of the legal system. It is evident from
the nature of the doctrine that in the absence of the doctrine, Parliament would have been able to wield
all power and had the potential to destroy the identity of the legal system and even to repeal the
Constitution. The basic Structure is at the Heart of the Constitutional Scheme. Part III of the
Constitution is called the cornerstone of Indian democracy. The Preamble is the basic structure of the
Constitution of India. The Preamble says that people are the ultimate authority and the Constitution emerges
from them. The Preamble contains a specified objective that is the basic structure. The Preamble may invoked
to determine the ambit of the fundamental rights , and Directive Principles of States Policy. In Maneka
Gandhi v. Union of India1 the Supreme Court observed: Fundamental rightsweave a pattern of
guarantee on the basic structure of human rights, and impose negative obligations on the State not to
encroach on individual liberty in its various dimensions. The fundamentals of the Indian Constitution
are contained in the Preamble which secures its citizens, Justice, social, economic and political, Liberty
of thought, expression. The Preamble, fundamental rights and directive principles the trinity arc the
conscience of the Constitution. Basic structure doctrine reaffirmed- the Minerva Mills and
Waman Rao cases.

Freedom of expression is more essential in a democratic setup of

State where people are the Sovereign rulers. Iver Jennings said,
Without freedom of speech, the appeal to reason which is the basis of
democracy cannot be made.1 1
Jennings, W.I., Cabinet Government,13. [Cited in Dr. Madhabhusi Sridhar, The
Law of Expression, An Analytical Commentary on Law for Media 18 (Asia Law
House, Hyderabad, 18, (2007)].

This freedom is essential for the proper functioning of the democratic

process.It is regarded as the first condition of liberty. In Prabhu Dutt
V.Union of India The Supreme Court has held that the right to know news
and information regarding administration of the government is included in
the freedom of speech and expression. right to freedom of speech and expression and right
Freedom of speech and
to life and liberty include right to information.

expression could be considered one of the most

fundamental of all freedoms. The citizens right to kno
w the true facts about the administration of a country is one of the vital
ingredients of a democratic State. People can play an important role in
a democracy only if it is an open government where there is full
access to information in regard to functioning of government. The
people of this country have a right to know every public act, every thing that
is done in a public way, by their public functionaries. The people of India declared in
the Preamble of the Constitution, which they gave unto themselves their resolve to secure to all the
citizens liberty of thought and expression. This resolve is reflected in Article 19(1) (a) which is one of the
Articles found in Part III of the Constitution, which enumerates the Fundamental Rights. 2
Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and.. the touch-stone
of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated. While in
Apex Court, Bhagwati, J. had endorsed, Open Government is the new
democratic culture of an open society towards which every liberal democracy
is moving and our country should be no exception.3The concepts of Open
Government and Right to Information are inter-relatable. The viability to
access to Government is the prime criteria in deciding the openness of a
Government. Participation in government by the people is regarded, as an
importantaspect of democracy and peoples desisted from participating in
governmental affairs unless they have information as to what is going on in
the Government. A modern democratic State being answerable and
accountable to its people, the people are entitled to know what policies and
programme, how and why, are being framed and followed by the
Government.
An important feature justifying the openness in governmental activities is
that, being an activist entity, the Government accumulates a vast armory of
powers in a welfare state. Out of this powers, from Defense to Education,
from External Affairs to Poverty Elevation, the Government frames and
implements collective policies and schemes. These powers are used to affect
economic interests and the personal liberty of the individual. Therefore, it is
extremely essential that these powers have to be exercised for public good,
not improperly and for the purposes of which the powers are conferred.
Hence, this objective can be best ensured by giving access to the individual to
Governmental information and not in shrouding in secrecy as to howthe
Government exercises its power in individual cases. Secret Governments and
the corruption in public administration are the real evils of the century. the
Right to Information laws are critical tools in the fight against Corruption. It
enhances transparency. Freedom of information is a fundamental human right
and.. the touch-stone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is
consecrated.

Freedom to air one's view is the lifeline of any democratic institution and any attempt to stifle, suffocate
or gag this right would sound a death knell to democracy and would help usher in autocracy or
dictatorship. Freedom of speech is guaranteed not only by the constitution or statutes of various states
but also by various international conventions like Universal Declaration of Human Rights , European
convention on Human Rights and fundamental freedoms, International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights etc. Freedom of Speech is the bulwark of democratic government. This freedom is essential for
the proper functioning of the democratic process. Freedom of speech is there to protect the right of all
citizens to understand political issues so that they can participate in smooth working of democracy.
People should know what their elected representatives are doing in the
legislature. Also, live telecast of Assembly proceedings alone will put an end
to the acrimonious scenes taking place inside the House.

the tracking of persons by their IP addresses is potentially invasive of individuals privacy. In the
absence of a culture of strict adherence to the rule of law by the police apparatus in India, the
unbridled ability to track persons through IP addresses has the potential of becoming an extremely
oppressive tool of surveillance.