Amendment to exclude political parties from RTI introduced in parliament
13 Aug, 2013In order to nullify the order passed by the Central Information Commission (CIC) in that sought to bring the major political parties under the purview of Right to Information (RTI) Act, a bill has been introduced in the parliament yesterday by the Minister of State for Personnel and Training V Narayanasamy to amend the act.
As per the bill, “Declaring a political party a public authority under the RTI Act would hamper its smooth internal working. Further, political rivals may misuse the provisions of the RTI Act, thereby adversely affecting the functioning of political parties.” The bill adds that it is necessary to give “retrospective effect” to the proposed amendment in order to eliminate the adverse effects of the June 3 CIC decision.
The amendment to the Section 2 of the Act clarifies: “The expression 'authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted' by any law made by Parliament shall not include any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as political party under the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951.” The Bill also proposes to insert a new Section 31 in the RTI Act, 2005 which says that the amendment shall apply “notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any court or commission..,” and will prevail over “any other law for the time being in force.”
The Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has said “the government considers that the CIC has made a liberal interpretation of Section 2(h) “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; of the act in its decision.” He stated that the said amendment proposes to amend the definition of public authority mentioned in Section 2(h) “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; of the Right to Information Act, 2005. The amendment will allow political parties to evade the ambit of the RTI Act, 2005.
The issue of the political parties coming within the ambit of the RTI Act has been in the news following a June 3 order by a full bench of CIC which held that the six national political parties are covered under the definition of the public authority as per the section 2(h) “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; of the RTI Act. With almost complete support cutting across political parties, the bill is likely to sail smoothly in the parliament.
Defending the proposed amendments in the Act, the Law Minister Kapil Sibal argued that no political party could function if the CIC order was implemented. He said that the CIC order will strike at the root of the political system as the citizens will seek all sorts of details from political parties including their process of consultation and decision-making. He added that nowhere in the world such a system has been in place. He said “The political parties are unanimous against the CIC order. Parties will not be able to function if this is allowed”.
Noted activist Aruna Roy has condemned the introduction of the RTI amendment Bill in Parliament. Another activist Venkatesh Nayak from Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative said that “many activists and NGOs working for the RTI Act will move court if Parliament gives its nod to the proposed amendments.”