Political parties are not amused by the Central Information Commission’s decision to place them under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Congress, CPI(M) and Janata Dal (U) on Tuesday opposed the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) order, while the BJP was cautious in endorsing the move.
Most parties feel that the order will create a situation where they will be forced to give information about even the most insignificant of decisions and hamper their day to day functioning.
“It is not acceptable. We totally disagree with it. Such an adventurist approach will do a lot of harm and damage democratic institutions,” AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi said here, responding to Monday’s decision of the CIC.
“Getting political parties entangled in such unnecessary things will damage the democratic process. We simply cannot accept it,” he said.
The CIC move would encroach upon the right to privacy of political organisations which don’t receive any grants from the Government and are voluntary organizations, he said.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram also slammed the CIC decision. “The reasons given by the CIC to bring political parties under the RTI ambit are not credible. This is an unusual interpretation of the RTI Act. The intention of the RTI was not to apply it to political parties but to Government authorities. The Congress is not against transparency, but it is opposed to the CIC order,” he said after the Union Cabinet meeting.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said: “There is a logic to RTI and this is reflected in its orders. The logic will be tested at various levels including by the courts. I think we should be overtly sensitive to the evolving nature of
RTI but at the same time I think it is important to keep a practical control of RTI objectives because it cannot be allowed to run riot.”
The CPI (M) termed the CIC decision as a “fundamental misconception” about the role of political parties in Parliamentary democracy and said the decision cannot be acceptable. The CPI (M) urged the Government to take a suitable stand against the CIC order after consulting political parties.
“This will interfere with and hamper the functioning of a political party. A political party is a voluntary association of citizens who believe in the ideology, programme and leadership of the party.
That party is accountable to its membership. To apply the RTI Act and demand access to the internal deliberations of the party whether it be on policy matters, organisational decision or selection of candidates will constitute a serious infringement of the inner-party functioning, confidentiality of discussions and undermine the political party system itself. Opponents of a political party can utilise the RTI as an instrument to destabilise a party,” said the CPI (M) in a statement.
“One of the concerns of the CIC seems to be transparency of the funding and finances of political parties. At present, according to the law, all political parties are required to submit their accounts to the Income Tax Department and the Election Commission. Already under the RTI, the statement of accounts and the finances of the parties are accessible from the Election Commission. Any more details of the financing of the party can be sought and have to be given. The CPI (M) has from the outset taken the stand that the financial statements and accounts of a party should be publicly available,” it added.
Expressing “astonishment and shock,” JD (U) chief Sharad Yadav said the order was in “no way justified” as “political parties are not shops”. “It seems the CIC doesn’t know the functioning of a political party,” he said.
Asserting that “we are totally against this,” he wanted the Central Government to scuttle the CIC move. On the record, the BJP saw nothing wrong in the CIC order. “The BJP is not against anything that brings transparency and accountability which is equally applicable to all. We will follow the law,” said BJP spokesman Captain Abhimanyu.
However, a senior leader explained that the CIC decision will not bring in any financial transparency as most parties receive major share of the funding in cash. “I don’t think the CIC decision will serve any purpose other than creating a functional nightmare for the political parties,” he said.