Amendment to the Right to Information Act, 2005
Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
02-August-2013 14:41 IST
Amendment to the Right to Information Act, 2005
The
Union Cabinet has approved introduction of a Bill in the coming session
of the Parliament to amend the Right to Information Act, 2005, to
exclude the political parties from the definition of Public authority
for the purpose of the Act.
The Central Information Commission
(CIC) in its decision dated 03.06.2013, has held that the political
parties, namely, AICC/INC, BJP, CPI(M), CPI, NCP, and BSP are public
authorities under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act. While deciding that the
said political parties are public authorities, the CIC has relied mainly
on the grounds that there is substantial (indirect) financing of
political parties by the Central Government and they perform public
duty.
The political parties are registered with the Election
Commission under the provisions of section 29A of the Representation of
the People Act, 1951. Under this section any small group of persons, if
they so desire, can be registered as a political party by making a
simple declaration under sub-section (5) of section 29A.
With
reference to the political parties, detailed provisions exist in the
Representation of the People Act, 1951 which provides for dissemination
of information relating to political parties, candidates and donations.
The said Act, inter alia, provides for –
• Registration with the Election Commission of associations and bodies as political parties (section 29A)
• Political parties entitled to accept contribution (section 29B)
• Declaration of donation received by the political parties (section 29C)
• Declaration of assets and liabilities (section 75A)
• Account of election expenses and maximum thereof (section 77)
• Lodging of account with the district election officer (section 78)
• Penalty for filing false affidavit etc. (section 125A)
The
above provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 indicate
that there are sufficient provisions in the Act to deal with each and
every aspect of financing, its declaration and punishment for filing
false affidavit and all such information is made available to the public
through the website of the Election Commission.
Under section 13A
of the Income-tax Act, 1961, the political parties claiming exemption
from tax are required to file their return of income before the due date
before the tax authorities along with audited accounts; and form 24A
prescribed under section 29C of the Representation of the People Act,
1951 read with Rule 85B of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 declaring
the list of persons making donations to the political parties exceeding
20,000/- rupees.
As per section 138 of the Income-tax Act, any
information with the Income-tax Department would be ordinarily held
confidential, but can be made public, if in the judgment of the
Commissioner of Income-tax, it serves public purpose.
Under
section 10A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for failure
to lodge the account of election expenses as per the requirement of law,
the defaulting candidate may be disqualified by the Election Commission
for three years from the date of the order of disqualification.
Section
29C of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, provides that each
political party shall submit report to the Election Commission (before
filing its income-tax return) regarding all contributions in excess of
20000/- rupees received by it in a financial year and failure to submit
this report will deprive them of the tax benefit. Further, the
candidates are required to file affidavit along with their nomination
papers giving the annual income of the candidate and filing of false
affidavit attract punishment for furnishing wrong information.
The
RTI Act was enacted to provide for an effective framework for
effectuating the right of information recognised under Article 19 of the
Constitution. The RTI Act was enacted to ensure greater and more
effective access to information by making the Freedom of Information
Act, 2002 more progressive, participatory and meaningful.
The
definition of public authority given in clause (h) of section 2 of the
RTI Act is well defined to include only such authority or body
constituted by or under the Constitution or by any law made by
Parliament which is substantially financed directly or indirectly by
funds provided by the appropriate Government. The political parties do
not fall within the parameters of the definition of public authority
given in the RTI Act, as they are only registered and recognised under
the RP Act, 1951.
Source : PIB News
