Skip to main content

PM’s green signal for transparency in politics: Parties must comply with RTI

By Venkatesh Nayak*
Addressing a meeting of the national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which concluded recently in New Delhi, the Hon’ble Prime Minister is reported to have declared: “People have a right to know where our funds are coming from.” Media reports indicate that the Central Government may be working on a legislation to make the source of funding of all political parties more transparent. An economic resolution reportedly adopted at this meeting endorsed the Hon’ble PM’s appeal for transparency in political party funding, particularly election campaign financing. While this resolution itself is not available on the BJP’s official website, the salient features containing the Hon’ble PM’s transparency call to the party are uploaded there.

Celebrating the 41st anniversary of the judicial recognition of people’s right to know

These path breaking public statements have come less than 20 days before the 41st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s finding about the people’s fundamental right to know.
More than four decade ago, on 24th January, 1975, a five-member Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court ruled that the people’s right to know was implied within the meaning and scope of the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution [State of Uttar Pradesh vs Raj Narain & Ors., AIR 1975 SC 865]. While disposing a petition seeking disclosure of the contents of the “Blue Book” containing instructions for ensuring the security of the then Prime Minister, Ms. Indira Gandhi, Justice K K Mathew explained the important of the people’s right to know in the following words:
“74. In a government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can but few secrets. The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything, that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries. They are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction in all its bearing. The right to know, which is derived from the concept of freedom of speech, though not absolute, is a factor which should make one wary, when secrecy is claimed for transactions which can, at any rate, have no repercussion on public security. To cover with veil secrecy the common routine business, is not in the interest of the public. Such secrecy can seldom be legitimately desired. It is generally desired for the purpose of parties and politics or personal self-interest or bureaucratic routine. The responsibility of officials to explain and to justify their acts is the chief safeguard against oppression and corruption.”
Although the late Shri Raj Narain who lost the parliamentary bye-election from Allahabad contesting against the Late Ms. Gandhi, pressed his demand for openness on the Government of India, the Apex Court’s opinion about transparency in public life can be extended to all public transactions including those involving political parties without losing the basic principle, namely, the people’s right to know everything that is done in a public way. This includes the collection of and accounting for donations received by political parties.

BJP’s silence on RTI about donations received and deposited in 2016

On 10th November, two days after the Central Government announced its decision to demonetise all currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denomination, some opposition leaders accused the West Bengal State Unit of the BJP of allegedly depositing large sums of money in its bank account. They charged the party with having prior knowledge of the demonetisation decision that the Government apparently kept a secret until it was officially announced by the Hon’ble PM in his address to the nation. According to media reports, the President of the BJP’s WB State Unit is said to have claimed that all donations were properly receipted and available for verification.
Attaching a copy of this press clipping, on 14th November, 2016, I sent the following RTI application to the Central Public Information Officer of the BJP through Shri Ram Madhav, General Secretary, BJP:
“At the outset, I would like to congratulate your party, being the main constituent of the National Democratic Alliance Government, for taking the bold step of ensuring the demonetisation of high value currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denomination. I have enclosed a media report published today about a statement purportedly made by one of your party functionaries, that copies of all receipts issued against cash received by your party from the public in the form of donations are available with your party for verification.
Pursuant to the order of the Central Information Commission in the matter of Subhash Chandra Aggarwal and Anr. vs Bharatiya Janata Party & Ors., in case Nos. CIC/SM/C/2011//001386 and CIC/SM/C/2011/000838, dated 3rd June, 2013, holding your party as a public authority under the RTI Act, I would like to obtain the following information from your party, under the RTI Act:
1) A clear photocopy of all receipts issued by your party against cash donations received form any member of the public or any institution or organisation from 01 January, 2016 till date;
2) A clear photocopy of the counterfoils of all bank deposit slips maintained by your party as evidence of cash deposited in your designated bank accounts, across the country from 01 January, 2016 till date;
3) A clear photocopy of all correspondence made by your party with any authority in the Government of India, relating to the issue of demonetisation of high value currency notes that was done on 08/09 November, 2016.”
Apart from seeking details of donations received and deposited I wanted to know whether the BJP had made any formal representation to the Central Government prior to or after the demonetisation decision was announced on the subject. Surely, as the largest national party in the Lok Sabha, the BJP would have formally conveyed some views to the Central Government before or after the demonetisation exercise, on that subject.
The RTI application was delivered to the national Head Office of the BJP on the 16th of November. Let alone send a reply, the BJP has not even acknowledged receipt of this RTI application till date. The RTI application, the news clipping and the proof of their delivery are in the attachment.

All six national political parties are non-compliant with the RTI Act

In June 2013, the Central Information Commission (CIC) declared six national political parties (BJP, INC, CPI, CPI-M, BSP and NCP), public authorities under The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). All these parties including the BJP have not complied with the directions of the CIC. The CIC’s decision and a detailed history of this case of non-compliance are available on the website of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) which is spearheading the civil society initiative for transparency in the working of all political parties.
Three Information Commissioners are currently hearing multiple cases regarding non-compliance of these six national political parties with their June 2013 order. The aggrieved RTI applicants – Mr. Subhash Chandra Agarwal and ADR have also filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) suit in the Supreme Court regarding this non-compliance. Both cases have seen slow progress.
All six political parties have hired a battery of lawyers – young and old, who are raising minor technical matters before the CIC in hearing after hearing instead of accepting their obligations under the RTI Act. Till date, only one RTI complainant has completed his verbal arguments before the CIC. ADR and I have filed Intervention Applications in this case. The next date of hearing in this case is not announced yet.
Given the current demonetisation exercise and the weak provisions in the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for enforcing transparency in party-funding, the RTI Act provides the best solution for all political parties to become transparent. There is no need to reinvent the wheel for the six national political parties. They are already public authorities under the RTI Act. None of them has challenged the CIC’s order before any court of law. The UPA Government’s Bill to insulate all political parties at the national and the State level from the RTI Act lapsed with the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha in May 2014. So there is no legal obstacle for the six national political parties to lead the way for other State level political parties towards transparency.
Will the BJP live up to its tallest leader’s vision of transparency and lead by example as desired is a question every citizen should ask. They can embark on this exercise by appointing CPIOs and first appellate authorities under the RTI Act and disclose their organisational details and funding and spending in accordance with Section 4(1) of the Act.
The Hon’ble PM has shown the green signal for greater transparency in political affairs. Will the Raths of all political parties move in this direction remains to be seen.

*Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, New Delhi

Comments

TRENDING

Campaign group urges INDIA alliance to release Jharkhand manifesto to counter BJP’s 'divisive' agenda

By Our Representative  The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan, an advocacy group, has issued a press release urging the INDIA alliance to release a Jharkhand-specific manifesto to counter the BJP’s "divisive" electoral agenda. With just two weeks remaining before the assembly elections, the INDIA coalition has yet to announce its plans and priorities for the state. Meanwhile, the BJP's campaign, according to the press release, is centered around communalism, divisiveness, and distraction from Jharkhand's core issues.

Tributes paid to pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, who 'dodged' police for 60 yrs

By Harsh Thakor*  Jagjit Singh Sohal, known as Comrade Sharma, a pioneer of Naxalism in Punjab, passed away on October 20 at the age of 96. Committed to the Naxalite cause and a prominent Maoist leader, Sohal, who succeeded Charu Majumdar, played hide and seek with the police for almost six decades. He was cremated in Patiala.

Israel's 'war crime': 18,000 children died not just from bomb explosions but also starvation

By Sandeep Pandey*  Last year 6 years old Madiha was a guest during Diwali at our home in Lucknow. Listening to the sound of fire crackers bursting outside she remarked, ‘It appears as if we’re in Gaza.’ She has probably no idea of the extent of damage and loss of life that has taken place in Palestine but can relate to sound of crackers as bombs exploding over Gaza.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. 

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Will Bangladesh go Egypt way, where military ruler is in power for a decade?

By Vijay Prashad*  The day after former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left Dhaka, I was on the phone with a friend who had spent some time on the streets that day. He told me about the atmosphere in Dhaka, how people with little previous political experience had joined in the large protests alongside the students—who seemed to be leading the agitation. I asked him about the political infrastructure of the students and about their political orientation. He said that the protests seemed well-organized and that the students had escalated their demands from an end to certain quotas for government jobs to an end to the government of Sheikh Hasina. Even hours before she left the country, it did not seem that this would be the outcome.

How pseudo-liberals 'went wrong' in judging DY Chandrachud as Chief Justice India

By Shamsul Islam*  DY Chandrachud took charge as Chief Justice of the Indian Supreme Court (SC) on November 09, 2022. On this occasion many of the pseudo-liberals who claimed to be defenders of the democratic-secular polity of India manifested great happiness. They declared that the time of SC being an appendage of the RSS-BJP government headed by PM Modi was over as Justice Chandrachud was a liberal judge committed to the democratic-secular polity of India. 

Why Han Kang refused to celebrate her personal accomplishment: Nobel Prize in literature

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  South Korean Nobel laureate Han Kang has declined to celebrate and refused to address a press conference after winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, citing the deaths, destitution, pain, and suffering of people affected by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. As reported by the Korea Times, Han Kang’s father Han Seung a renowned Korean writer conveyed her daughter’s message that “with the war intensifying and people being carried out dead every day, how can we have a celebration or a press conference?” She said that “she won’t hold a press conference”.