Political parties do not want to come under the Right to Information Act because they would be held truly accountable under the Act. The reasons they have cited to oppose the move aren’t convincing
The strong and adverse reaction of political parties to the recent order of the Central Information Commission, bringing them within the purview of the Right to Information Act, has provided proof, if proof was needed, that most of them are averse to transparency and accountability in regard to collection of funds, allotment of party tickets and such other intra-party issues. But the biggest disappointment is that the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is the main Opposition party and which at one time claimed to be ‘a party with a difference’, is sailing along with the scam-tainted Congress and choosing to hedge its bets on the validity of the order.
The worst culprit is of course the country’s oldest party — the Congress. It dubbed the CIC’s order as “adventurist” and even claimed, by some strange logic, that the order demanding transparency in the working of political parties would “harm democratic institutions” because it would encroach upon the “privacy” of political parties. The BJP, which initially seemed to welcome the order, changed its mind a day later and claimed that the order did not provide clarity on many issues and that there would be an overlap in the roles of the Election Commission and CIC. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also termed the order as “unacceptable”. The Janata Dal (United) said that it was “totally opposed” to the move.
During the hearings, the Communist Party of India was the only party which had welcomed transparency in the funding of political parties. But even the CPI began speaking with a forked tongue after the CIC passed the order. Its national secretary D Raja was quoted as saying the order as “disputable”. One thing is clear from the reactions of the political class to the order — they will all gang-up and do everything in their power to prevent the public from knowing how much funds they raise and where they get their funds from. Are they justified in practising such opacityIJ
Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi claims that the CIC order will affect the privacy of political parties. The full implication of this statement will sink in when you realise that the source of 80 per cent of the funds obtained by political parties is not disclosed by them to the Election Commission.
The issue was first raised by Mr Anil Bairwal of the Association of Democratic Rights. He filed an RTI application in October 2010, and asked six national parties to furnish the names of big donors. The Congress said it did not come under the purview of the RTI. The NCP said it did not have the staff to respond to such “unusual” queries. The BJP, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the CPI(M) did not respond. The CPI was the only party which furnished information on the top 10 donors.
Mr SC Agrawal filed another RTI application with the Congress and the BJP in May 2011, and sought information on donations to these parties. The parties did not respond. Thereafter, the two RTI applicants filed complaints before the CIC. Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra constituted a full bench of the commission comprising himself and two Information Commissioners, Ms Annapurna Dixit and Mr Ml Sharma to hear these petitions.
The petitioners argued that political parties were “public authorities” as stipulated in the RTI Act because they had constitutional and legal status and they were “substantially financed” by the Government via land and buildings at throw away prices, income tax exemption, and free airtime on All India Radio and Doordarshan.
Mr Bairwal showed that only about 20 per cent of the income of political parties came from donations that they disclosed to the Election Commission. “The sources of the remaining 80 per cent of the income are shrouded in mystery. This is what gives rise to all kinds of speculation about the pernicious influence of illegal money”. Since bodies or institutions which are “substantially financed by the Government” come within the ambit of the RTI Act, the petitioners produced clinching evidence to establish this fact.
Mr Bairwal presented tables showing benefits obtained by the six national parties under various heads. He showed that for three years from the year ended 2007, the Congress had availed of income tax exemption of Rs 300 crore whereas the BJP had availed exemption of Rs 141 crore. The BSP had got tax exemption of close to Rs 40 crore and the CPI(M) of Rs 18 crore. The cost of the air time given by All India Radio to the six national parties was Rs 28.56 lakh during the lok Sabha election in 2009 whereas the cost of the time allotted to these parties by Doordarshan during that election was Rs 10.75 crore.
But the real ‘funding’ of political parties by Government came via the real estate route. In the New Delhi area, dozens of bungalows like 24, Akbar Road and 11, Ashoka Road were rented out to political parties. All these bungalows are given at ridiculously low rents to these parties. However, the real estate in the possession of political parties does not end here. Apart from these bungalows, the Government, at various times, had allocated prime plots in lutyen’s Delhi to political parties at throwaway prices. Mr Bairwal calculated the current market value of these valuable plots of land as follows: Congress — Rs 1,036 crore; BJP — Rs 557 crore; CPI(M) — Rs 241crore; CPI — Rs 78 crore; Rashtriya Janata Dal — Rs 123 crore, Samajwadi Party — Rs 261 crore; JD(U) — Rs 129 crore. The total current value of plots allotted to political parties by the Government in Delhi is Rs 2,556 crore.
The Commission wrote to all the national political parties to elicit their response but the parties neither had the courtesy nor the gumption to respond to the CIC’s queries. In its order, the Commission fully upheld the contention of the petitioners. The Commission said the RTI Act aimed to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority. Political parties are important political institutions which continuously perform public functions. “Therefore, they came within the ambit of the RTI Act”.
The CIC order has given all political parties an opportunity to become more transparent and accountable. Tragically, even the BJP and the communists are currently sailing along with the Congress that carries the stigma of running the most corrupt Government in the country’s history. Will better sense prevail and will the people get to see at least one major party to be ‘a party with a difference’IJ let us keep our fingers crossed.