"One of the legacies of British colonial rule in India is the secrecy regime."Discuss throwing light on various secrecy laws and factors contributing to secrecy culture in India.

Hint:
Started with the Indian Official Secrets Act (1904) during Lord Curzon, replaced by Official Secrets Act, 1923.  The act allows safeguarding information from unauthorized disclosure. Guidelines under Manual of Departmental Security Instructions and the Manual of Office Procedure deals with security of secret, confidential, restricted, and top secret information. Civil Service Conduct Rules, 1964, prohibits any unauthorized disclose of Information. Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 prohibits giving of evidence without official permission. Section 8 of the RTI makes it possible to not to disclose any information if it may be harmful to protected interests. Further, Section 22 of RTI acts says that the RTI provisions need to be consistent with Official Secrets Act.

Topics: GS-I: Modern Indian History & Freedom Struggle