Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | RTI activists trash party fears-Ananya Sengupta

RTI activists trash party fears-Ananya Sengupta

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jun 9, 2013   modified Modified on Jun 9, 2013
-The Telegraph


Right to Information activists have accused political parties of making a mountain out of a molehill in their opposition to the Central Information Commission order bringing six parties under the RTI Act's ambit.

They say the act has enough provisions to block queries on sensitive subjects such as campaign strategy or political discussions at meetings.

"We moved the plea (before the CIC) to bring political parties under the RTI Act mainly because we wanted financial transparency from them," said RTI activist Anil Bairwal.

Co-petitioner Subhash Agarwal said: "Any apprehension about being forced to disclose strategic deliberations is baseless since there seems to be no practice of recording discussions at inner-party meetings."

Under the RTI Act, an applicant can only seek information that has been recorded in some form, and cannot ask "why" questions beyond what the documents themselves explain. (See chart)

Agarwal said his main intention was to seek file notings relating to meetings on drafting poll manifestos "which often involve gimmicks". He said parties maintain records of these meetings so they can draft the manifesto later.

On Monday, the CIC held that the Congress, BJP, CPM, CPI, NCP and the BSP are "public authorities" and gave them six weeks to set up a machinery to answer RTI queries.

The order is being seen mainly as a way to get the parties to open up their books. But the parties, which cannot afford to be seen as opposing financial transparency, have couched their criticism in other arguments.

Apart from raising questions of jurisdiction and ambiguity, they have claimed the ruling would "harm democratic institutions", hobble political parties' functioning and leave them open to moves at destabilisation.

"The act has enough safeguards. It does not give blanket power to the citizenry to secure any type of information," Agarwal said.

For instance, Section 8(1) of the act has 10 sub-clauses spelling out exemptions from disclosure. Section 7(9) empowers public authorities to deny voluminous information if doing so would "divert resources of (the) public authorities disproportionately", that is, use up too much manpower.

This is a plea many parties used in 2010 when the Association for Democratic Reforms took a chance and filed an RTI plea asking 20 political parties to reveal the donations they had received and the names of the major donors.

Bairwal explained what he hoped to gain from the CIC order. "When a political party now declares a wealth of Rs 400 crore to the income-tax department or the Election Commission, it doesn't have to provide a break-up (apart from disclosing donations above Rs 20,000 to the poll panel)," he said.

"If they show that only 10 per cent of the money came through these donations, they do not now have to reveal the sources of their remaining income. We want to use RTI queries to get them to reveal the other sources."

However, RTI activist Afroz Alam Sahil was sceptical. "The political parties would have welcomed the CIC order if they knew the history of RTI pleas in India. Queries get routinely denied and complaints to the CIC take years to come to the hearing stage," Sahil said.

"Like government departments, political parties too will use one or the other provision to withhold information. Tell me, which political party keeps documentary evidence of funds or meetings?"


The Telegraph, 9 June, 2013, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130609/jsp/nation/story_16988219.jsp#.UbQP19jcjco


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close