The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved an amendment to the Right to Information(RTI) Act, 2005 to keep political parties out of its purview thereby circumventing the CIC order in this regard.
The full bench of CIC in June had ruled that six main national political parties — Congress, BJP, CPI, CPM, BSP and NCP — are within the ambit of RTI Act as they received substantial funding and indirect benefit from the Government, tax rebates, cheaper land, offices, etc. They should appoint Public Information Officers and be answerable to people.