Political parties are covered under Right to Information Act as public authority
4 Jun, 2013Hearing two separate complaints filed by the RTI activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal and Anil Bairwal of the Assosication of Democratic Reforms, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has held that the political parties are covered under the definition of the public authority as defined under 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; of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
A full bench of the commission comprising chief information commissioner Satyananda Mishra and information commissioners M L Sharma and Annapurna Dixit ordered the presidents, general secretaries of the parties (Congress, BJP, CPM, CPI, NCP and BSP) to designate CPIOs and appellate authorities at their headquarters in six weeks. The CIC ruled that these six parties to whom RTI queries were aimed at, shall comply with section 4 of the RTI Act which calls for proactive disclosure.
The information about the funding of the political parties like the donations received by the political parties, the names and addresses of the donors, assets, liabilities, and other related information was refused as they claimed that the political parties are not covered under the RTI Act.
This site had earlier taken up the issue:
1. “Should political parties be covered under RTI Act?” Read more at: http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/should-political-parties-be-covered-under-rti-act-2342#.UfoKyUAp8R4.
2. The political parties had opposed their inclusion under the RTI Act. Read more at: http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/political-parties-oppose-inclusion-under-rti-act-2594#.UfoKU0Ap8R4
While delivering the order, the full bench of CIC relied on the following grounds:-
1. Substantial financing by the government (both direct and indirect) for the political parties:
a) large tracts of land in prime areas are provided to them
b) huge government accommodations at subsidized rates
c) income tax exemptions given to the parties
d) free air time given by All India Radio and Doordarshan
e) electoral rolls given by the Election Commission
2. These parties perform public duty and vested with rights and liabilities. The political parties affect the lives of the citizens, directly or indirectly in every conceivable way and are continuously engaged in performing public duty. In spite of being non-governmental, the political parties come to wield or influence exercise of governmental power. It is, therefore, important that they become accountable to public.
During the last three years, the I-T exemptions given to political parties were huge. The tax relief in case of different parties was as under - BJP (Rs 141.25 crore), Congress (Rs 300.92 crore), BSP (Rs 39.84 crore), CPM (Rs 18.13 crore), CPI (Rs 24 lakh) and NCP (Rs 9.64 crore). This site had earlier put up news articles in this regard.
1. The Tax exempt income of political parties is nearly Rs. 2,500 crore. Read more at: http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/tax-exempt-income-political-parties-nearly-rs-2500-2815#.UfoJX0Ap8R4.
2. The extent of finance to political parties to be calculated for coverage under RTI. Read more at: http://www.rtifoundationofindia.com/extent-finance-political-parties-be-calculated-cov#.UfoMhUAp8R4
The CIC did not accept the argument that if Political Parties are held to be Public Authorities, then the political rivals would maliciously flood their CPIOs with numerous RTI applications at the time of elections thereby wasting their time and energy and, thus, causing detriment to their political functioning. The bench held that the validity of a statute cannot be questioned only on the basis of presumption of its possible misuse. The full bench of CIC ruled that INC/AICC, BJP, CPM, CPI, NCP and BSP have been substantially financed by the central government and therefore they are held to be public authorities under 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; of the RTI Act.
Transparency is good not only for all state organs but would prove to be good for political parties, which control all the vital organs of the state. The order is only a BEGINNING as it WILL be challenged by the political parties in court. However, it has set the ball rolling and the momentum would be so high that even the judicial delay would not be able to stop the movement.