Media Law | AM VI | Rhythm Katyal | 17010223034

 Much ink has been spilt on the dire need to repeal now the colonial era Official Secrets
Act (OSA) as many feel that it has far outlived its utility.

 Official Secrets Act enacted in 1923 by Britishers was designed primarily to prevent all
such actions that could help in any way the enemy states. It is often alleged that this
archaic law is often resorted to by the Government in a bid to clamp down on all such
attempts that could expose official impropriety. We all saw how the Editors Guild of
India and other media bodies severely criticized the government's threats of using this
draconian Act in the Rafale deal reportage.

 Journalists organizations have strongly and unequivocally condemned the Attorney

General's statements on The Hindu's publication of documents as part of its
investigative reporting on the Rafale deal, terming the government's "threats" as an
effort to intimidate the news media. They also called for a re-examination of the Official
Secrets Act, 1923.

The Act should be repealed for the following reasons:

 Citizens have no insight into what the criteria of classification of a ‘Secret’ is because
despite multiple questions from activists over the years under the RTI Act, the Ministry
of Home Affairs has not disclosed this information.

 The introduction to the Act itself lays the framework that the government’s information
must be protected from “the menace of spying”, even by “the citizens of the country
may be in government service or in private business or just thriving over this nefarious
act”.

 The OSA clashes with the RTI, however Section 8(2) of the RTI Act overrides it. The
provision states: “Notwithstanding anything in the Official Secrets Act, 1923, nor any
of the exemptions permissible in accordance with subsection 8(1) of RTI Act, a public
authority may allow access to information, if public interest in disclosure outweighs the
harm to the protected interests.”

 Notably, even in Section 8(2), the OSA is the primary consideration — an exception to
transparency embedded in Indian jurisprudence since independence.

 The ARC recommended that the OSA be repealed in favour of appropriate changes to
the National Security Act, “containing provisions relating to official secrets”, but the
government disregarded the suggestions, facing pressure from intelligence agencies.