NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear the matter in the week starting April 21, regarding a batch of pleas filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, seeking directions to bring all recognized political parties under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
While asking all the parties to complete all the pleadings in the case, a two-judge bench of the apex court, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, posted the matter for hearing in the week starting April 21.
The petitioners, NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Upadhyay, and others, had moved the apex court seeking a declaration that national and regional political parties were “public authorities” under the RTI Act. They made Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and others respondents in the case.
The Central government had earlier told the top court that the Central Information Commission (CIC) order cannot be used to seek a writ from the top court to bring recognized political parties under the ambit of the RTI Act.
Upadhyay highlighted in his petition filed before the apex court that the entire political system revolved around political parties. They are continuously engaged in the performance of public duties, and it is, therefore, important that they become accountable to the public. "Transparency and accountability in the working of political parties is essential in the public interest as they perform public functions and, therefore, warrant being declared as ‘Public Authority’ under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act," he said.
Upadhyay further added that political parties have constitutional and legal rights and liabilities. Therefore, they need to be held to be “Public Authorities” under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act 2005. An association or body of individuals attains the status of a political party upon its registration with the Election Commission of India (ECI) under Section 29A of the Representation of People Act (RPA), which is a Central legislation.