Thursday, August 15, 2013

First amendment to RTI Act tabled in Lok Sabha



The Manmohan Singh government 12-08-2013 introduced the Right to Information (Amendment Bill), 2013 in the Lok Sabha .

 

Earlier, there were attempts to amend The RTI Act, but was unsuccessful. However The status quo changed on June 3, 2013 with the order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) deeming India’s six national political parties to be “pubic authorities” under the RTI Act.


The landmark judgment noted: “We have no hesitation in concluding that the INC/AICC, the BJP, the CPI(M), the CPI, the NCP and the BSP have been substantially financed by the Central government and therefore, are held to be public authorities under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.” The order meant that parties, like the government, would now be held to account, and would be especially under compulsion to reveal their sources of funding.


The Bill tabled in the Lok Sabha proposes an amendment to Section 2 of the RTI Act which clarifies that parties would not be treated as public authorities: “Authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by any law made by Parliament shall not include any association or body of individuals registered or recognised as a political party under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.”



The Bill also inserts a new Section 31 in the principal Act which says that the amendment will apply “notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any court or commission..,” and will prevail over “any other law for the time being in force.”

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