New Delhi:
The six-week deadline given by the Central Information Commissioner (CIC) to political parties to make details of their funding public and appoint information officers under the Right To Information Act (RTI) ended today, but no one listened.
In fact, most political parties defiantly questioned the CIC's June 3 order which holds that since the six national parties - Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI-M, CPI and BSP - receive funds from the central government in terms of office space, tax breaks and bungalows, they are public entities and thus under the purview of the RTI.
"If the intent was to bring political parties under it, the RTI Act should have stated that. We have said very respectfully that the CIC's order is misconceived and fails on the fundamental appreciation of the law," Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said.
While BJP said it supports transparency in the political system, it has not appointed any information officer as some of the senior party leaders are opposed to the transgression of RTI Act in the political sphere.
"We believe in transparency in the political system. Any information asked for should be made available. We comply with the Election Commission rules and we always furnish all details about income tax on our website," BJP spokesperson Captain Abhimanyu said.
Sources say that some senior leaders in the BJP feel that if the RTI is allowed then the party may be flooded with frivolous queries as also about the inner functioning of the party which cannot be shared as it is not a public matter.
Left parties -- CPI and CPM -- have made it clear that they would be opposing the RTI implementation on political parties with CPM terming it as "fundamental misconception" and CPI making it clear that any help received from the government was only to ensure better functioning of democracy.
"In no way is it substantial help," CPI said.
Other parties like the BSP and NCP have also opposed the RTI net over them but maintained their resolve for transparency.
None of the websites of these political parties had a list of designated information and appellate officers, which is mandatory under the RTI Act.
Officials in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which is the nodal department for the implementation of the RTI Act, said the government has not taken any decision on providing immunity to political parties from providing information.
"If an application is filed under the RTI Act and the party fails to answer within the stipulated 30 days limit, an aggrieved person may approach first appellate authority within the party and then CIC for lodging complaint," a DoPT officer said.
The DoPT is also considering a proposal to amend the RTI Act during the Monsoon Session of Parliament which is scheduled to begin from August 5.
The amendment may give shield to the political parties by including them under Section 2 of the RTI Act to change definition of a public authority or to put them in the list of exempted organisations (as mentioned in Section 8 of the Act), which include central security and intelligence agencies like the Research And Analysis Wing (RAW), Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Centre's flagship Right to Information Act empowers a citizen to seek time-bound information on all matters of governance by paying a fee of Rs 10.