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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Keeping political parties out of RTI ambit on Cabinet's agenda today -Himanshi Dhawan

Keeping political parties out of RTI ambit on Cabinet's agenda today -Himanshi Dhawan

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published Published on Aug 1, 2013   modified Modified on Aug 1, 2013
-The Times of India


NEW DELHI: Political parties will be out of the purview of the RTI Act with a proposed amendment that is likely to be taken up by the Union Cabinet on Thursday. The move comes even as several prominent civil activists have petitioned PM Manmohan Singh urging him not to go ahead with the amendments without consultation.

According to sources, the government plans to amend the definition of public authority under the Act. The Central Information Commission (CIC) in June had directed that six national parties - Congress, BJP, BSP, CPM, NCP and CPI - were "substantially financed" by the government and therefore were public authorities that came under the ambit of the RTI Act. The order argued that political parties received income tax exemptions and doles from government, including land, electoral rolls and airtime on public broadcaster at nominal rates, on the grounds that they were doing social service. The CIC order said that since the parties' professed to be working for the public, they should be open to scrutiny on finances and decisions.

Political parties across the board have opposed the order. They have argued that they are already under scrutiny of the Election Commission and the I-T authorities. Both parties and candidates are expected to furnish their sources of funding and details of assets owned to both these authorities.

Activists have been on the warpath with the government over the decision with many filing online petitions to President, PM and MPs urging them to desist from amending the Act. Around 300 activists, including Aruna Roy, Shailesh Gandhi, Jayati Ghosh, Kamini Jaiswal, Nandita Das, Prashant Bhushan and Soli Sorabjee, have written to the PM. The letter says that, "such a move to amend the act will reinforce and confirm the suspicions of many that the political establishment intends to cover acts of corruption and arbitrary use of power" adding that "any amendment to the RTI Act would undermine and weaken the process of realizing various constitutional promises."

The communication also added that the government had assured Parliament in 2009 when amendments were being proposed to the RTI Act that non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and social activists will be consulted on the proposed amendments. "We would, therefore, expect the government to hold wide ranging public discussions before they think of amending the law in any way," the letter added.


The Times of India, 1 August, 2013, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Keeping-political-parties-out-of-RTI-ambit-on-Cabinets-agenda-today/articleshow/21521001.cms


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