The Supreme Court (SC) is hearing a petition that the political parties should be brought under the Right To Information (RTI) Act, which is primarily being opposed by the political parties. Let us see how this stage has reached, where political parties are worried they are brought under RTI.
India is a democratic nation, and there has been always a feud between the openness of a democratic nation and the preservation of secrecy so as to maintain trust in the government. Whereas transparency is seen as an aspect of fairness to the citizens of the country. Transparency makes citizens aware of the working of the government and its functioning.
Voices of bringing political parties under the RTI Act, of 2005 have been raised to which government has been reluctant to address the issue at large.
The RTI Act, of 2005 was passed by Parliament that regulates the policy of citizen’s right to information. Under this Act, citizens can request information from a public authority ie a body of government. The Act mandates the public authorities to reply within 30 days. It has proven as a tool for ensuring the benefit of citizens and having accountability in the working of the government.
In 2013, the Central Information Commission (CIC) ruled that the political parties will come under the ambit of public authorities. The judgment was subjected to a lot of discussions. The CIC stated that the working of political parties affects the day-to-day life of the citizens. Furthermore, fund allocations and policy-making of the parties have no transparency at all. Political parties are vital in the optimisation of the democratic machinery of the nation, and hence accountable for providing the information to the people of the country. That time CIC, named six political parties, namely, Communist Party of India Congress, BSP, BJP, NCP, and CPI M to be under RTI’s ambit.
Political parties neither complied with the order nor challenged it in court. It was said that a very liberal representation was made by the CIC of the RTI Act. A plea in SC to bring political parties under the ambit of the RTI Act was opposed by the government stating that it would hinder their smooth internal functioning. They further stated that the hindrance of the political functioning of a body is not the motive of the RTI Act. It was under the RTI Act, the political parties do not fall under the category of public authorities. They stated that their finances are subject to transparency under the Income Tax Act, of 1961.
The debate on the issue has been a longstanding one, the activists support the idea of bringing government meetings and political parties under the ambit of the RTI Act, on the other side, the reluctance of the government to abide by it is clearly visible. So no clear-cut actions have led to petitions in the SC.
This petition is being heard by a three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI). There are batches of petitions seeking a declaration that national and regional parties were “public authorities” under the RTI Act. Several political parties, including BJP and Congress, are respondents in this case.
The CJI, orally observed yesterday (25th July 2023) that political parties may “have a point” when they fear that accountability under RTI Act may stretch to even disclosure of internal discussions/decisions, including why they chose a particular candidate. As per the counsel of one political party, it supported the cause of financial transparency of political parties but was against parties being compelled to reveal confidential information.
The counsels for petitioners countered that the top court had passed multiple orders in the past, directing political parties to publish/advertise/tweet the criminal records of their candidates, and this has not been done. Counsel further argued that political parties got considerable benefits from the government, including bungalows. They had a role in governance as they controlled the opinions of their legislators through whips. One other counsel for the petitioners pointed out that the CIC, in 2013 and 2015, had declared national and regional political parties to be public authorities.
However, political parties have reacted with a layered response to the CIC findings. They have argued that opening up to RTI may lead to an undemocratic infringement of their confidential discussions, including their respective attitude to the government and plans to organize agitations against the wrong policies of the government. The Union government has also opposed the petitions, reasoning that political parties can not be compelled to disclose their internal functioning and financial information under the RTI Act as this would hamper smooth internal working and fester into a weak spot for political rivals with malicious intentions to take advantage.
In the affidavit filed by the Union government, it has been said that “ The CIC has made a liberal interpretation of Section 2(h) of the RTI act, leading to the erroneous conclusion that political parties are public authorities under the RTI Act. Political parties are not under established or constituted by or under the Constitution or by any other law made by the Parliament”. The registration of a political party under the 1951 Act was not the same as the establishment of a government body. It is said information about the apolitical body was already under public domain on the website of the Election Commission. Besides Section 75A of the 1951 Act mandated the declaration of assets and liabilities of each elected candidate.
The detailed hearing of this case will take place on 1st August 2023 in the SC.
Let us wait and watch the further development in this matter.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
26th July 2023