Should political parties be bought under rti ambit
Answers
Political parties must be brought under the ambit of RTI for following reasons:
1.If political parties are kept out, it sets a precedent whereby other institutions can argue that they too be kept out of its purview because there are too many frivolous claims, too much paperwork, too many NGOs with suspect motivations and so on and so forth.
2. Political parties in our country occupy a very central space in democracy. People don’t vote so much for individuals as they do for parties. Parties come out with great statements before elections. People vote on the basis of which party says what. Parties finally form the government and the government’s policies are decided based on the ideologies of the political parties. In India, it is widely accepted notion that fountain head of the corruption is political funding. Almost all political parties have got very valuable plots allotted by the Government at prime places in New Delhi and in their respective capital cities. It is therefore, necessary to introduce internal democracy, financial transparency and accountability in the working of the political parties.
3. To ensure less influence of industrial houses on policy making: Most of the parties have almost 75% of their income from unknown sources. Generally corporate and industrial houses give them funds to change policies, give illegal clearance and to hamper their competitor’s interest. It may also hamper people and national interest. Political parties enjoy a “stronghold” over their elected MPs and MLAs under Schedule 10 of the Constitution. The Schedule makes it compulsory for MPs and MLAs to abide by the directions of their parent parties. It would be within the average voter’s fundamental right to information to know the financial details of political parties.
4. Under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 all political parties must affirm their allegiance to the Constitution of India and such allegiance is made compulsory for the purpose of registration under sub-section (7) of Section 29A. Therefore, political parties so registered must furnish information to the public under the right of information under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India, since right of information has been held to be a part of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).The Law Commission of India in its 170th Report on ‘Reform of the Electoral Laws’ in May 1999 had recommended transparency in the functioning of political parties.