right to information act-consti project

7/24/2019 Right to Information Act-consti Project

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RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT

-Special reference to ELECTORALREFORMS

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Real 'Swaraj' will come not by the acquisition ofauthority by a few but by the acquisition of capacity byall to resist authority when abused.-Mahatma andhi

Global PerspectiveThe earliest reference to the Right to Information is found inSweden where in 1776 a convention of granting Right to

Information to all its citizens was passed. Sweden tops the listof nations to be the least corrupt country as per TransparencyInternationals Inde!.

The "# general assembly passed a resolution in 1$%& declaringfreedom of information as fundamental human right thusrecognizing peoples right to have access to o'cial information(which is part of article 1$ of the International )ovenant on)ivil and *olitical Rights (I))*R+.,ifty si! countries in the world have already enacted acts

providing right to information including countries from #orth-merica most of the /urope )olombia *eru South -fricaIndia -ustria and #ew 0ealand. ver 23 countries haveinitiated the process to enact the Right to Information law mostof which are from South -merica /ast -fricaSouth /ast -siansome from Russian federation. In the "S the Right toInformation -ct of 1$66 was amended in 1$7% after the4atergate scandal. It would thus be seen that the Right toInformation is a global phenomenon. 5ost of the democraticcountries have recognized the Right to Information in one way

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or the other. International e!perience shows that it can also beco:related to development.

National PerspectiveIt was for the ;rst time that a ruling was given by the Supreme)ourt in 1$&2 to the eovernment must be the rule andsecrecy an e!ception.In the famous case of 5r. ?ulwal v@s 8aipur 5unicipal

)orporation in 1$&6 the Supreme )ourt gave clear cut directivethat ,reedom of Speech and /!pression provided under article1$ of the )onstitution clearly implies Right to Information aswithout information the freedom of speech and e!pressioncannot be fully used by the citizens. The Right to Informationfor the citizens has not come on a platter and there have beenmany activists whose continuous e in a small place liAe Fhilangana blocA in

Tehri >adhwal are e!amples. Some States liAe Tamilnadu>oaRaBasthan 5aharashtra =elhi 5adhya *radesh -ssamand 8G? had enacted their own

Right to Information -cts.

The Need For The Riht To In!or"ation

In recent years there has been an almost unstoppable globaltrend towards recognition of the right to information bycountries intergovernmental organizations civil society andthe people. The right to information has been recognized as afundamental human right which upholds the inherent dignity



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of all human beings. The right to information forms the crucialunderpinning of participatory democracy : it is essential toensure accountability and good governance. The greater theaccess of the citizen to information the greater the

responsiveness of government to community needs.-lternatively the more restrictions that are placed on accessthe greater will be the feelings of powerlessness andalienation. 4ithout information people cannot adeHuatelye!ercise their rights as citizens or maAe informed choice.

The free ow of information in India remains severely restrictedby three factorsJa. The legislative frameworA includes several pieces of

restrictive legislation such as the 'cial Secrets -ct 1$2KDb. The pervasive culture of secrecy and arrogance within thebureaucracyD andc. The low levels of literacy and rights awareness amongstIndias people.

The primary power of RTI is the fact that it empowers individual)itizens to reHuisition information. Eence without necessarilyforming pressure groups or associations it puts power directlyinto the hands of the foundation of democracy: the )itizen.

Applicabilit#The -ct applies both to )entral and State >overnments andall public authorities. - public authority (sec.2(h++ which isbound to furnish information means any authority or body orinstitution of self:government established or constituted (a+by or under the )onstitution (b+ by any other law made by*arliament (c+ by any other law made by State Legislature

(d+ by a noti;cation issued or order made by the appropriate>overnment and includes any (i+ body owned controlled orsubstantially ;nanced (ii+ non:government organizationsubstantially ;nanced : which in clauses (a+ to (d+ are alldirectly or indirectly funded by the appropriate >overnment.

$e%nition&In!or"ation

The -ct de;nes information in sec. 2(f+ as any material inany form including the records documents memos e:mails

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opinions advices press releases circulars orders logbooAs contracts reports papers samples models datamaterial held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public

authority under any law for the time being in force. Sec. 2(i+de;nes the word MrecordN as including (a+ any documentmanuscript and ;le (b+ any micro;lm micro;che andfacsimile copy of a document (c+ any reproduction of imageor images embodied in such micro;lm and (d+ any othermaterial produced by a computer or any other device.

$e%nition& Riht To In!or"ationThe right to information is de;ned in sec. 2(B+ as a right toinformation accessible under the -ct which is held by or underthe control of any public authority and includes a right to (i+inspection of worA documents records (ii+ taAing notese!tracts or certi;ed copies of documents or records (iii+ taAingseparate samples of material (iv+ obtaining information in theform of disAettes oppies tapes video cassettes or in anyother electronic mode or through printouts where suchinformation is stored in a computer or in any other device.

Riht to In!or"ation 'nder the Act

- citizen has a right to seeA such information from a publicauthority which is held by the public authority or which is heldunder its control. This right includes inspection of worAdocuments and recordsD taAing notes e!tracts or certi;edcopies of documents or recordsD and taAing certi;ed samples ofmaterial held by the public authority or held under the controlof the public authority. It is important to note that only suchinformation can be supplied under the -ct that is available ande!isting and is held by the public authority or is held under thecontrol of the public authority. The *ublic Information 'cer isnot supposed to create information that is not a part of therecord of the public authority. The *ublic Information 'cer isalso not reHuired to furnish information which reHuire drawing

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of inference and@or maAing of assumptionsD or to interpretinformationD or to solve the problems raised by the applicantsDor to furnish replies to hypothetical Huestions.

Riht to In!or"ation Act as a F'nda"ental

Riht

Supreme )ourt on The Right to Right To Information -ct:The right to information as a fundamental right owingfrom -rticle ()*(+*a+ o! the Constit'tion o! India isnow a well settles proposition. ver the years theSupreme court has consistently ruled in favour of the

citizenNs right to Anow. The nature of this right and therelevant restrictions thereto has been discussed by theSupreme )ourt in a numerous of cases.In ,enett Cole"an the right to information was held tobe included within the right to freedom of speech ande!pression guaranteed by -rticle (1$+(1+(a+.In Ra- Narainthe Supreme )ourt e!plicitly stated that itis not in the interest of the public to cover with a veil ofsecrecy the common routine business:the responsibility of

o'cials to e!plain and to Bustify their acts in the chiefsafeguard against oppression and corruption.In S.P. G'pta the right of the people to Anow about everypublic act and the details of every transaction undertaAenby public functionaries was described.

/aintenance And P'blication O! RecordsSec. % maAes it a duty of public authorities to maintain

records for easy access and to publish within 12C days thename of the particular o'cers who should give theinformation and in regard to the framing of the rulesregulations etc. Subsection (K+ of sec. % states that for theperformance of subsection (1+ all information shall bedisseminated widely and in such form and manner which iseasily accessible to the public. Sec. 6 permits persons toobtain information in /nglish or Eindi or in the o'ciallanguage of the area from the designated o'cers. The

person need not give any reason for the reHuest or anypersonal details. Sec. 7 reHuires the reHuest to be disposed



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of within KC days provided that where information sought forconcerns the life or liberty of a person the same shall beprovided within %& hours. "nder sec. 7(7+ before anydecision is taAen for furnishing the information the

designated o'cer shall taAe into consideration therepresentation if any made by a third party under sec. 11. -reHuest reBected shall be communicated under sec. 7(&+giving reasons and specifying the procedure for appeal andthe designation of the appellate authority. Sec. 7($+ e!emptsgranting information where it would disproportionately divertthe resources of the public authority or would be detrimentalto the safety and preservation of the record in Huestion.

E0e"ptionsSec. & e!empts from disclosure certain information andcontents as stated in Sub:clauses (a+ to (B+ thereof. Sub:clause (b+ e!empts information which is e!presslyforbidden by any court of law or tribunal or the dispute ofwhich may constitute contempt of court. Sub:clause (g+e!empts information the disclosure of which wouldendanger life or physical safety of any person or identifythe source of information or assistance given in

con;dence for law enforcement or security purpose. Sub:clause (h+ e!empts information which could impede theprocess of investigation or apprehension or prosecution ofo


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)ommission of India. -ll members of the LoA Sabha e!cept two

who can be nominated by the *resident of India are directly

elected through general elections which taAe place every ;ve

years in normal circumstances by universal adult

su


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twelve nominated members are usually an eclectic mi! ofeminent artists (including actors+ scientists Buristssportspersons businessmen and Bournalists and commonpeople.

Indian political parties

Indian #ational )ongressdominated the Indian political sceneunder the leadership of8awaharlal #ehrufrom theindependence in 1$%7 until his death in 1$6%. The partycontinued its dominance under the leadership of ??amaraBand Lal Fahadur Shastri. The )ongress party was splitinto two in the 1$7Cs and Indira >andhiled )ongress (I+ to

election victory. Fut the winning run was broAen for the ;rsttime in 1$77 with the defeat of the party led by Indira >andhiby an unliAely coalition of all the maBor other parties whichprotested against the imposition of acontroversial emergencyfrom 1$73P1$77. Fut Indira >andhiregained power soon after and her son RaBiv >andhiled theparty after her death. - coalition led by * Singhswept topower in 1$&$ in the waAe of maBor allegations of corruptionagainst then *rime 5inister RaBiv >andhi. Fut the coalition loststeam in 1$$C necessitating new elections with the congressparty again emerging victorious under the leadership of * #arasimha Rao.

In 1$$6 the election results led to a coalition systemwhereinno single party achieved a maBority in the *arliament to form agovernment but rather has to depend on a process of coalitionbuilding with other parties to form a blocA and claim a maBorityto be invited to form the government. This has been aconseHuence of strong regional parties which ride on the bacA

of regional aspirations. There were multiple governments withina span of few years led by -tal Fihari aBpayee I ? >uBraland E= =eve >owda.

In 1$$$ #ational =emocratic -llianceled by the Fharatiya8anata *artycame to power and became the ;rst coalitiongovernment to complete the full term. ,or the ne!t decadecongress led coalition "nited *rogressive -llianceformed thegovernment under 5anmohan Singh. In the recent elections

held in 2C1% the #ational =emocratic -llianceled bythe Fharatiya 8anata *artycame to power with Fharatiya 8anata

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehruhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Kamarajhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Kamarajhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lal_Bahadur_Shastrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_emergencyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishwanath_Pratap_Singhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_V_Narasimha_Raohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_V_Narasimha_Raohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_governmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atal_Bihari_Vajpayeehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_K_Gujralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_D_Deve_Gowdahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_D_Deve_Gowdahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Democratic_Alliance_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Progressive_Alliancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manmohan_Singhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Democratic_Alliance_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehruhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Kamarajhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Kamarajhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lal_Bahadur_Shastrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_emergencyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishwanath_Pratap_Singhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Gandhihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_V_Narasimha_Raohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P_V_Narasimha_Raohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_governmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atal_Bihari_Vajpayeehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_K_Gujralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_D_Deve_Gowdahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_D_Deve_Gowdahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Democratic_Alliance_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Progressive_Alliancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manmohan_Singhhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Democratic_Alliance_(India)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party


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*artyachieving a simple maBority on its own by securing 2&2seats. #arendra 5odi the F8*s *rime 5inisterial candidate isnow serving his ;rst term as the *rime 5inister of India.

4hile parties liAe theTelugu =esam *arty the -ll India -nna=ravida 5unnetra ?azhagamand the =ravida 5unnetra?azhagamhave traditionally been strong regional contendersthe 1$$Cs saw the emergence of other regional players suchas Indian #ational LoA =al Shiromani -Aali =al ShivSena SamaBwadi *arty FahuBan SamaB *artyand8anata =al.

These parties are traditionally based on regional aspirationsliAeTelangana Rashtra Samithiand Shiv Senaor stronglyinuenced by caste considerations liAe FahuBan SamaB

*artywhich claims to represent the =alits.

RIGHT TO INFOR/ATION ACT AN$

POLITICAL PARTIES

There has always been so much of controversy regarding

whether political parties comes under the ambit of right to

information act or not and it is still not clear that whetherpolitical parties comply with the order of )hief Information

)ommission as some parties agrees and most of them do not

which leaves all of us with a Huestion that Q4hy do political

parties refuse to come under the ambit of political parties

and most importantly that leaders of these political parties who

claim to be the servants of common people Qhow much political

parties are honest to the common people

4'ali%cation and $is5'ali%cation o! Candidates 'nder

Anti6$e!ection la7&

I. $IS48ALIFICATION a. If a member of a house belonging to a political partyJ

: oluntarily gives up the membership of his politicalparty or : otes or does not vote in the legislature contrary tothe directions of his political party.

I.S/5/ST/R *R8/)T9 RTI -ct Special Reference to /lectoral Reforms*age $
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narendra_Modihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_Desam_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Anna_Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Anna_Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Lok_Dalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiromani_Akali_Dalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiv_Senahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiv_Senahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samajwadi_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahujan_Samaj_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janata_Dalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telangana_Rashtra_Samithihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiv_Senahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahujan_Samaj_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahujan_Samaj_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narendra_Modihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_Desam_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Anna_Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Anna_Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravida_Munnetra_Kazhagamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Lok_Dalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiromani_Akali_Dalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiv_Senahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiv_Senahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samajwadi_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahujan_Samaj_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janata_Dalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telangana_Rashtra_Samithihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiv_Senahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahujan_Samaj_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahujan_Samaj_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit


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Eowever if the member has taAen prior permission or iscondoned by the party within 13days from such voting or abstention the member shall notbe disHuali;ed.

b. If an independent candidate Boins a political party afterthe election.

c. If a nominated member Boins a party si! months after hebecomes a member of the legislature.

II. Po7er to $IS48ALIF9 a.+ The )hairman or the SpeaAer of the Eouse taAes thedecision to disHualify

a member.

b.+ If a complaint is received with respect to the defection ofthe )hairman or SpeaAer a member of the Eouse electedby that Eouse shall taAe the decision.

III. E:CEPTION 5erger - person shall not be disHuali;ed if his original politicalparty merges with another and

: Ee and other members of the old political party becomemembers of the new political partyor : Ee and other members do not accept the merger and opt tofunction as a separate group.

This e!ception shall operate only if not less than two:thirds ofthe members of party in the Eousehave agreed to the merger.

THE ELECTORAL REFOR/S

;h# electoral re!or"seneral )ongress.Seventeenth and /ighteenthcenturyNs version of recall involved the removal of an o'cial by

another elected bodyD which is Huite di


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*rovince of Fritish )olumbia in )anada. It is also used in South?orea Taiwan and -rgentina amongst others.

The 8nited States o! A"erica

Recall was ;rst adopted in the "S in 1$CK when votersapproved a new city charter for Los -ngeles 7 but recall ofstate o'cials is now permitted in the following 1$ statesJ Thestate level recall attempts in the "S have been largelyineovernors being successfully removedfrom o'ce in this way. These were Lynn 8. ,razier (#orth=aAota+ in 1$21 and >ray =avis ()alifornia+ in 2CCK. The lattercase led to the election of -rnold Schwarzenegger. ut of K2attempts in )alifornia since 1$11 to recall its >overnor the

election of Schwarzenegger in 2CCK was the only successfulone. In 1$&& voters ;led enough signatures for /van 5echamthe >overnor of -rizona to be made the subBect of a recallelection but he was impeached by the stateNs Eouse ofRepresentatives before the date of the scheduled recallelection.

S7iterland

The availability of literature on Swiss recalls procedures arelimited. -lthough Switzerland does not employ recall at thefederal level si! of the 26 cantons in Switzerland have recallprovisions for their cantonal parliaments. -s with regard to allother recall systems a certain number of voters must sign therecall petition in order to petition of recall to proceed but in thecase of Switzerland it does not appear that this number isbased on a percentage of the electorate. liAe in Scha


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can e


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The legal frameworA must maAe clear whether or not a personwho is the subBect of a recall vote can stand for re:election.

There appear to be few arguments to support a 1C3 design inwhich a recalled person is eligible to stand for re:election since

this would appear to undermine the entire point of the processDa situation in which a recalled person is subseHuently re:elected would appear to render the process an e!pensivewaste of time. The decision on whether to allow the electedperson to stand on the ballot for a successor may also bea


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Recall has been a matter of debate all over the 4orld Recall isa process designed to enable voters dissatis;ed with anelected o'cial to replace him before the e!piry of his term ofo'ce. Recall has been a matter of debate all over the 4orld.

The MrecallN device has also the potential to encourage thecitizens to Aeep themselves abreast of contemporary publicissues in order to monitor the conduct of their electedrepresentatives. The recall maintain that it provides a way forcitizens to retain control over elected o'cials who are notrepresenting the best interests of their constituents or who areunresponsive or incompetent. This view holds that an electedrepresentative is an agent a servant and not a master.

The LoA Sabha SpeaAer 5r.Somnath )hatterBee while

delivering the M/5S#amboodiripad 5emorial Lecture on Qdemocratic consolidationJthe Indian e!perience in Thiruvanthapuram recommended theintroduction of right to call of elected representatives in India.Ee said [It is time for us to looA for devices such as MrecallN toensure accountability of the members of democraticinstitutions at all levels before the common man gets totallydisillusioned with the prevailing system. The performance andthe functioning of the parliament as well as its members would

improve if people who elected their representatives to voicetheir grievances watched the parliamentary proceedingsregularly. Fut it is not such an easy thing to be resolved in ourparliamentary democracyas all the political parties have toarrive at a consensus which may be a di'cult tasA[2C

It is also argued that it can lead to an e!cess of democracywhere the threat of a recall election lessens the independenceof elected o'cials. It undermines the principle of electing goodo'cials and giving them a chance to govern until the ne!telection and that it can lead to abuses by well:;nanced specialinterest groups. )ountry such as India is not in a position tohold election so freHuently.

;h# a person is allo7ed to contest elections !ro""ore than one Constit'encies


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It is not the Constit'tion o! Indiathat allows a person tocontest elections to the LoA Sabha (or even for that matterthe idhan Sabha of a State+ but the Representation o! thePeople Act@ ()((RPA+ which provides for the conduct of

elections to the Eouses of *arliament and to the Eouse orEouses of the Legislature of each State. This is governedby section *D+of the RPA.,urther section D2of the RPAsays that if a person is electedto more than one seat in either Eouse of *arliament or in theEouse or either Eouse of the Legislature of a State (somestates have a Legislative )ouncil or idhan *arishad as wellalong with the idhan Sabha+ then he@she can only hold on toone of the seats that he@she won in the election.

It would be di'cult to ascertain the nature of the legislativeintent that went into the passing of this statute but what itdoes is allows candidates to fall bacA upon a contingency ifthey are to lose the election to a seat. Eonestly there isnothing wrong with this provisionper se but theimplementation has always been Huestionable with numerouscandidates contesting from two constituencies. If the candidatemanages to win from both constituencies then section D2ofthe R*- becomes applicable and the vacating of the one of the

two seats won by the candidate results in bye:election for thevacated seat which can be a tedio's process one which isneedless to say e!pensive as the money that is spent for thisis ta0pa#er "one#. This brings me to the secondary Huestionwhich asAs whether politicians have misused this provision. Theanswer to that is in the a'rmative sadly.

The problem with the change to any statute is that it is at theend of the day discussed by the elected representativesthemselves and as we have already seen with the debateabout opening up political party funds to RTI therepresentatives never allow for such a change to go throughhowever proper itmaybeinprinciple.

The Election Co""ission o! Indiahas on many occasionsproposed a change to this provision. In the ,acMro'nd Paperon Electoral Re!or"sthat was prepared by the Core6Co""ittee on Electoral Re!or"s a part of the Leislative$epart"ent o! the /inistr# o! La7 and 'sticeincollaboration with the /lection )ommission and released in2C1C the Election Co""issionhas e!presslyrecommended restricting the number of seats from which a

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person can contest from in the elections to one because assaid above the conseHuence of the person winning both seatsfrom which he@she contests for is a bye:election for the seatwhich he@she will ultimately vacate and this will involve

avoidable labour and e!penditure.The Election Co""issionhas also in fact proposedthat ifthis provision was not changed then if a person contested fromtwo seats he@she should bear the cost of the bye:election tothe seat that he@she decides to vacate in the event both seatsare won by the person as a s'rchare.Foth these proposals whenever made were shot down by theincumbent >overnment and so this provision stands as it iswith ta!payer money being used to conduct the bye:election

when the candidate wins both seats. ItNs a pity but thatNs Busthow it is.

=$oes Political Parties co"e 'nder the a"bit

o! RTI Act


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QThe criticality of the role being played by these politicalparties in our democratic set:up and the nature of dutiesperformed by them also point towards their public characterbringing them in the ambit of Section 2(h+. The constitutional

and legal provisions discussed herein above also point towardstheir character as public authoritiesNN the commission held.

The order came after activists Subhash )handra -ggarwal and-nil Fairwal of the -ssociation of =emocratic Reformsapproached the )I) reHuesting that political parties bedeclared as public authorities.

They had asAed the si! political parties to maAe availabledetails of voluntary ;nancial contributions received by themand the donorsN names and addresses.

The political parties with the e!ception of the )*I howeverrefused to give away information claiming that they do notcome under the RTI -ct.

The commission then directed the presidents and generalsecretaries of the si! political parties to designate )*Is andthe -ppellate -uthorities at their headHuarters in si! weeAsN

time. QThe )*Is so appointed will respond to the RTIapplications e!tracted in this order in four weeAsN time.

The )I) also directed the political parties to comply with theprovisions of mandatory proactive disclosure by putting thosedetails on their websites.

4hile reBecting the arguments made by counsel of the politicalparties of their being out of the ambit of the RTI the )I)

referred to a Supreme )ourt Budgment which said that Qthelittle man of this country would have the basic elementary rightto Anow full particulars of a candidate who is to represent himin *arliament where laws to bind his liberty and property maybe enacted.

QThe people of India must Anow the source of e!penditureincurred by political parties and by the candidates in theprocess of election the )I) concluded.

Stat's in 12(3

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17 months on political parties ignore RTI ruling2K

8hey have neither sought revie' of CIC ruling nor challenged it

in court

Seventeen months after the )entral Information )ommissionruled that the Right to Information -ct applied to si! nationalpolitical parties none of them has complied with the -ct orappealed against it.

- full Fench of the commission comprising Information)ommissioners iBai Sharma Sharat Sabharwal and 5anBula*rasher had posted a hearing on the partiesN non:compliance

with its order for ,riday afternoon but none of them appearedbefore it. The commission heard the RTI activists and reservedits order for a later date.

4hile the F8* has not replied to the commissionNs notice onnon:compliance with its order the )ongress had in 5archsubmitted that *arliament was yet to taAe a ;nal decision onamending the RTI -ctD that Fill however lapsed with the 13thLoA Sabha. In ctober the )ongress said it disagreed with theorder.

The two )ommunist parties U the )*I(5+ and the )*I Usubmitted that they disagreed with the )I)Ns order but did nottaAe any legal action against it. n ,riday eveningspoAespersons for neither the )ongress nor the F8* were ableto tell 8he ;induwhy they did not attend the hearing.Representatives of the two parties said leaders were busy with-ssembly elections.

Open de%ance

QThe non:compliance and the open de;ance has had andcontinues to have a very serious detrimental e


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SeeAing Qe!emplary compensation 5r. )hhoAar asAed the )I)to direct that political parties should pay ;ve per cent of theirdeclared annual income a sum of Rs. %% crore into the *rime5inisterNs Relief ,und.

RTI activist Subhash -garwal appealed to the Fench to abolishsubsidised land allotment to these parties free air:time ono'cial media government accommodation and Income Ta!e!emptions.

In 8une 2C1K a full Fench of the )I) ruled on complaints ;ledby 5r. -garwal and the -=R seeAing information about thedisclosure of ;nancial accounts and funding of political partiesU since si! national parties enBoyed substantial public fundingand the nature of their duties pointed towards their publiccharacter they were public authorities and the RTI -ct appliedto them.

It directed them to appoint information o'cers dispose of RTIapplications addressed to them and comply fully with the -ct.

Stat's in 12(

$e!#in RTI 'nder"inin $e"ocrac# 12(13

-or t'o years, national political parties have de6ed the R8I 5ctthat they themselves passed. 8hey have not sought legalremedy either by appealing against the CIC order declaring

them to be 0ublic 5uthorities. If la'makers defy the la' in thisfashion, it sets a bad precedent. 0olitical parties should bemore accountable if they break the la', not less

Si! national parties in India the Fharatiya 8anata *arty (F8*+the Indian #ational )ongress (I#)+ the #ationalist )ongress*arty (#)*+ the )ommunist *arty of India ()*I+ the )ommunist*arty of India (5ar!ist+ )*5 and the FahuBan SamaB *arty (FS*+have refused to comply with the )entral Information

2% TE/ EI#=" =atedJ 5arch 23N 2C13

I.S/5/ST/R *R8/)T9 RTI -ct Special Reference to /lectoral Reforms*age %3
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/will-parties-comply-with-cic-bench-order-today/article6761040.ecehttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/will-parties-comply-with-cic-bench-order-today/article6761040.ece


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)ommission ()I)+order of 2C1K declaring them as *ublic-uthorities. n 5arch 16 2C13 the )I) passed another orderwhich in e


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further. ,aith in law and order and where the weaA and thepowerful are supposed to be treated eHual is also very low. Thisfurther undermines democracy. 5eanwhile the newgovernment has not yet appointed a )I) nearly a year after

coming to power. This is an e


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control public resources need to be accountable to the publicand open to scrutiny. The tortuous legal red herrings thatparties use U which includes the fundamental right of freedomof association U do not in anyway alter the fact that they

control crores of ta! money when in power. #o other categoryof organisations has that power. -pplying this the politicalparties de;nitely need to be under the RTI. )ompanies and#>s do not have the power that parties have and oftenenough do not even use ta!payer money. Fut they should alsoaccept being under the RTI in Aeeping with the spirit of amodern open democratic society.

Abo't transparenc#

If we dig deeper the real Huestion is thisJ what are partiesafraid of Their apparent obBection that minutes of internalmeetings of a political party U that discuss party strategy orsuitability of candidates for ticAet distribution for e!ample Ucannot be made public are e!cuses. It can easily be dealt withby suitable e!emptions which are in any case available underthe e!isting RTI -ct. The real fear is e!posure of their ;nancesas some admit in private. Their declared income does notdisclose the source of about 73 per cent of their donations.

Their undisclosed sources of income is anybodyNs guess. *artiesare ;ghting to Aeep this a secret ;ghting for their very survivalas they see it. This is a short:sighted view as the recent =elhielections have shown. *erhaps voters are changing andappreciate transparency more than big money campaigns. Ifparty election strategists can understand this or if entrenchedvested interests within parties can be removed change ispossible. This can only do good to the party in the long run.

4e are at a critical point in our democracy. Today money plays

an important role in winning elections. If that changes thenpeople become more important than money. Let us maAe nomistaAe about what is at staAe hereJ real democracy wherepolitical parties are not mere vote gathering machines but arevibrant democratic organisations that are truly representativeof the people by the people and most importantly for thepeople.

I.S/5/ST/R *R8/)T9 RTI -ct Special Reference to /lectoral Reforms*age %&


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CONCL8SION

RTI is a powerful tool that can deliver significant social enefits! It can

provide a strong support to de"ocrac# and pro"ote good governance$# e"powering the citi%es ailit# to participate effectivel# and hold

govern"ent officials accountale! Rather than &ust providing

infor"ation$ RTI Act in "ost of the countries has served to e an

effective watchdog ensuring all those co"ing in purview of the Act to

wor' in accordance with rules and regulations$ without an#

irregularities! (owever$ stricter i"ple"entation of this law re)uires not

onl# political will ut also active civil societies$ RTI activists and few 'e#

de"ocratic features$ such as respect for the rule of law! Currentl#$ theRTI Act in India is passing through a decisive phase$ "uch "ore needs

to e done to facilitate its growth and develop"ent! Mere protest against

the lac' of i"ple"entation of this law alone is not sufficient$ one needs

to encourage this initiative ta'en$ for the law to grow and "ature!

Tal'ing aout the electoral refor"s and Right to Infor"ation has not

significantl# "ade a ig change as the right to infor"ation ai"s to "a'e

the politics transparent and %ero cri"inalisation in politics and "a'e all

the infor"ation availale in the pulic do"ain! Further"ore$ ver#i"portant steps has een ta'en # the Electoral Refor"s Co""ittee ut

has has not ale to achieve the goal as there are "an# political parties

which refuse to provide infor"ation as the# den# that the# co"e under

the a"it of Right to Infore"ation! The last *++thCo""ission,s Report

has "ade significant change as # introducing one of the aove option

which was used # "ore than ./$/// voters in */0+ 1eneral Elections

"oreover$ there is still a"iguit# on Right of Recall and Right to Re&ect

as de"anded # Anna (a%are!

At last "ost i"portant is that how "uch the political leaders are honest

to the pulic who vo#ted the" and showed their trust # giving the"

vote! As it has een ver# pro"inentl# seen in the 2elhi 1eneral

Elections */0+ that Co""on has the iggest power as the# chose Arvind

3e&riwal as their Chief Minister as he pro"ised the people to provide

asic e"inities to each and ever# household and "ost i"portant agenda

right to information act-consti project

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