Karat seeks amendment to RTI as relief for parties.

Times of India : New Delhi :  Thursday, June 6, 2013

CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has said his party would demand an amendment to the Right to Information Act (RTI) so that political parties are exempted from sharing information like public authorities.

Speaking to the TOI, Karat ruled out CPM going to courts against the order of the Central Information Commission (CIC), saying political parties should be treated as public authorities as defined in the RTI Act. "We would request the government to amend the RTI Act. There seems to be a consensus among national parties against the CIC ruling," Karat said, adding that CPM would seek views of other political parties before the monsoon session of Parliament. Karat expects amendment would be unanimously passed. 

In an article in the party weekly People's Democracy, Karat said CIC's decision to extend the purview of the RTI to a political party is misconceived and wrong. "This order stems from a lack of understanding and a basic misconception about the role of political parties in a parliamentary democracy. Political parties are not governmental organisations or State funded entities. There is no Constitutional provision for a political party. A political party is an association of citizens who come together voluntarily to form a party. This can be on the basis that they subscribe to a particular ideology, programme and leadership that the party stands for or espouses," he wrote. Karat said to term these political parties as "public authorities" on the grounds that they are substantially financed directly or indirectly by the government or the State is fundamentally wrong. "It blurs and mixes up the role and functions of the political parties with that of government and government-sponsored organizations," he said. 

Karat pointed out after CIC's new order any one can ask for access to internal deliberations of a political party. They can ask for relevant material and papers which went into the decision making and the views of various office-bearers of the party concerned. "If such a procedure is adopted, it will harm the very mode of inner-party functioning. Within a party, discussions are held and it is on the basis of confidentiality that certain decisions are taken. To demand that such deliberations be made available will be a serious infringement on the nature of inner-party discussions," he said, pointing out that under the RTI, a BJP member can demand information about the internal matters of the CPM and vice-versa.