Times
of India: New Delhi: Monday, 15 September 2014.
The CIC has
issued show-cause notices to BJP president Amit Shah and Congress chief Sonia
Gandhi along with the heads of four other political parties asking why an
inquiry should not be instituted in the matter of non-compliance of its order
to implement the RTI Act.
Last year, on
a plea by activist Subhash Agrawal, the Central Information Commission (CIC)
had declared six national parties Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI, CPM and BSP as
public authorities, thereby bringing them under the ambit of the Right to
Information Act.
However, none
of the parties either contested the decision in courts or followed the
instructions of the panel.
The
commission had issued notices on February 7 and March 25 to these political
parties seeking their detailed comments on the complaint by Agrawal that they
had not complied with the orders of the CIC.
"Therefore,
a notice is issued to show cause within four weeks as to why an inquiry should
not be initiated in the matter of non-compliance of the commission's order
dated June 3, 2013, under Section 18 of the RTI Act, 2005... Take further
notice that if you fail to respond within prescribed time, the matter will be
processed on the strength of material on record, in accordance with law,"
the notice said.
The notice
has been sent to the chiefs of Congress, BJP, BSP and NCP and to the general
secretaries of CPI and CPM.
The move
comes close on the heels of a Delhi high court order which directed the
commission to decide in six months on a complaint against Congress chief Sonia
Gandhi regarding the issue of non-compliance with the transparency panel's
directions that the party was answerable under the RTI Act.
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