Answer: Transparency in administration is a sine qua non of participatory democracy and has gained prominence as a commitment of the state towards its citizens. It has the following significance for governance:

• Good governance: Disseminating information is crucial to good governance as it reflects and captures the government’s activities and processes. It also leads to accountability.
• Participative democracy: Every citizen of the state has the right to access information under the control of public authorities and evaluate whether it is in consonance with public interest.
• Economic and social progress: Transparency is the key not only to the architecture of good governance but also to a country’s ability to usher in rapid economic and social progress.
• Balancing power: Transparency can empower marginalized communities to battle the circumstances in which they find themselves and help balance the unequal power dynamics that exist between them and the government.

In this regard, the Indian government has come up with several initiatives towards open and transparent governance over the years like the Right To Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act), the National e-Governance Plan, 2006, National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy, 2012, the Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2014, etc. Despite the importance of transparency, withholding of information from the public becomes important due to the following reasons:

• National security: The RTI Act provides that certain sensitive information may be withheld from the public if the public authority in possession of the information thinks that the same is likely to jeopardize national interest or violate trade secrets. Also, the Official Secrets Act, of 1923 states that spying, sharing ‘secret’ information, interference with the armed forces in prohibited/restricted areas, etc. are punishable offenses.
• Privacy: Information that unnecessarily violates the privacy and confidentiality rights of individuals should be curtailed. For instance, sensitive information like the identity of victims of sexual abuse.
• Maintaining public order: Sometimes released information might lead to undue stigmatization of individuals or groups within the society and create issues with regard to public order. For instance, during violent upsurges, certain sensitive information is withheld to ensure peace and stability in society.
• Preventing misinformation: Some information, if released, might lead to the spread of rumors and consequently lead to panic and chaos. For instance, the spread of misinformation was rampant during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thus, there is some merit in withholding information from the public. However, before withholding critical information, other issues must also be addressed such as reducing the misuse of RTI exceptions, broadly defining ‘national security’ and ambiguous terms used in the Official Secrets Act, 1923, etc.

Answer: A code of ethics is a set of guidelines issued by an organization to its workers and management to help them conduct their actions in accordance with the primary values and ethical standards of the organization. The fundamental tenets of a code of ethics and values in civil services include integrity, empathy, objectivity, transparency, and professional competency, among others. There is no single code of ethics for civil servants in India. However, there are several conduct rules such as the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, All India Services (Conduct) Rules, etc., which prescribe allegiance to the Constitution, apolitical functioning, and objective decision-making. Several committees like the Santhanam Committee, Hota Committee, etc. have recommended a code of ethics for Civil Services in India. The Government of India also brought a Bill in the Parliament, which prescribed values that a civil servant should exhibit. A legally enforceable code of ethics is expected to bring the following changes in civil services:

• Improve service delivery:
  • By helping in discharging official duties with competence and accountability; care and diligence; responsibility, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality; without discrimination, and in accordance with the law.
  • By ensuring effective management, professional growth, and leadership development.
  • By avoiding misuse of official positions or information and using public money with utmost care and economy.
  • By ensuring that the civil servants serve as instruments of good governance provide services for the betterment of the public at large and protect the interest of the poor, underprivileged, and weaker sections.
• Avoid corruption
  • By complementing penal provisions for instances of misuse of funds and official positions.
  • By avoiding nepotism, and favoritism and instilling a sense of righteousness in civil servants.
  • It will help in strengthening the ethical framework in the civil servant and more specifically principle of transparency which is considered a disinfectant against corruption.
• Apart from these, a legally enforceable code of ethics will bind a civil servant to display ethical values associated with civil services such as probity, compassion, empathy, neutrality, etc.

However, to further strengthen the ethical framework, it is equally necessary that the non-observance of these rules by civil servants is met with penal provisions. Given India’s past experience with the Citizens’ Charter, it can be safely presumed that a Code of Ethics that does not punish for its violation will not be successful. In this regard, the 2nd ARC fervently pitched for a Code of Ethics and related reporting systems to keep track of the ethical conduct of a civil servant. Accordingly, the ethical conduct of civil servants should be directly linked with their annual performance review report. Along with this, strengthening the ethical framework will go a long way in ushering in ‘good governance’.