NCPRI Press Release (29-06-2013) The National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI) is extremely concerned to note that in response to the recent CIC order, which held that political parties are public authorities under the RTI Act, the Government is considering promulgating an ordinance to amend the RTI law. The NCPRI has consistently opposed any move to amend the RTI Act, which has empowered the citizens of the country to meaningfully participate in the functioning of our democracy. We believe that the CIC order will go a long way in ensuring transparency and accountability in the functioning of political parties. Inclusion of political parties under the RTI Act will ensure that parties are accountable to the people of the country. If the government and political parties have any objections to the order of the CIC, the appropriate response would be to challenge the order in court. In the past, the government and other organizations have often challenged CIC judgements in court. There is no reason why, in this particular case, the government is choosing to amend the RTI Act to keep political parties outside the purview of the law, rather than challenging the CIC order in court. This only goes to show that when political parties themselves are subject to the transparency law, they are willing to go to the extent of amending this landmark legislation to ensure that they are not open to public scrutiny under the Act. The NCPRI strongly opposes any proposal to amend or dilute the RTI Act. We hope that the political establishment will not, in any way, amend the RTI law and weaken the provisions of this legislation which empowers people to exercise their fundamental right to information. Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey, Venkatesh Nayak, Bhaskar Prabhu, Rakesh Dubbudu, Joy Kumar & Sheikh Ghulam Rasool (Co-conveners of the NCPRI)
Posted on: Sat, 29 Jun 2013 11:05:20 +0000
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