Govt introduces bill to amend RTI

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LDF workers lay siege to the government secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday over the solar scam.

The government introduced The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2013, which aims to keep political parties out of the ambit of the RTI Act, in the Lok Sabha on Monday amidst continuing din.
According to the reason given by the government for introducing the Bill, “declaring a political party as public authority under the RTI Act would hamper its smooth internal working”.
The government’s move to amend the RTI Act comes after the Central Information Commission (CIC) in a June 3 order had declared that the six national political parties — Congress, BJP, CPI-M, CPI, NCP and BSP — were public authorities and therefore came under the purview of the RTI Act.
The bill was introduced by the minister of state in the PMO, V. Narayanasamy. The move to amend the Act and keep the six parties out of its purview has evoked howls of protest from RTI activists who have said that this will “reinforce and confirm the suspicions of many that the political establishment intends to cover acts of corruption and arbitrary use of power”.
The proposed amendment will come into effect from June 3, the day the CIC order was passed. The statement states, “With a view to remove the adverse effects of the said decision,” the bill states that it is necessary to give “retrospective effect” to the proposed amendment.
The Right to Information (Amendment) Bill, 2013 seeks to insert an explanation in Section 2 of the Act which states that any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as political party under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 will not be considered a public authority.
“The expression authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by any law made by Parliament shall not include any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as political party under the Representation of the People Act, 1951,” read the statement of objects and reasons for the bill.
Referring to the CIC order of June, the bill also makes it clear that anything contained in any judgement, decree or order of any court or commission will not affect the status of political parties recognised under the RP Act.
The bill’s statement also notes that there are already provisions in the RP Act as well as the Income Tax Act which deal with transparency in the financial aspects of political parties and their candidates.
“Declaring a political party as public authority under the RTI Act would hamper its smooth internal working. Further, the political rivals may misuse the provisions of RTI Act, thereby adversely affecting the functioning of the political parties,” the bill reads.