Parties under RTI? SC seeks Centre, poll body’s reply

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre, the Election Commission and six major political parties to file their responses to petitions seeking to bring political parties under purview of the Right to Information Act (RTI) to increase transparency and check the use of black money in elections.

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Asking the parties to file their written statements not exceeding three pages, a Bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna said it would take up the petitions filed by ADR and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay for final hearing after April 21.

On behalf of the ADR, Bhushan contended that political parties should be considered public authorities under the RTI Act due to the significant public funding they receive, such as free airtime during elections and subsidised land rates. The top court, on July 7 2015, issued the notices to the Centre, the EC and six political parties - Congress, BJP, CPI, NCP and BSP, on ADR’s PIL seeking to declare all national and regional political parties "public authorities" to bring them under the ambit of the RTI Act.