Parties can't be exposed fully to RTI, says Yechury

The CPM on Tuesday asserted that political parties must be exposed to the Right to Information (RTI) Act only in matters already in public domain or relevant to it.

Senior CPM leader and Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said here that political parties, including CPM, would not oppose being under RTI purview in matters pertaining to party assets and the like, which are of ‘public interest’. However, there has to be a limit on such exposure to the law.

Replying to questions after delivering the 25th memorial lecture on the late V P Chinthan, veteran trade union leader, Yechury said, matters and information on political parties “that is not in the public domain cannot be brought under the RTI Act”.

Yechury said if somebody, invoking RTI provisions, sought to know “how a certain decision was arrived at by the CPM Central Committee or our Politburo and how many voted for or against a certain decision, that is not information in the public domain and that cannot come under RTI’s purview.” Yechury said the CPM demanded that the Central Government place before Parliament in the coming winter session, its new policy on majority FDI stake in multi-brand retail. “The policy should be discussed in Parliament and it should have Parliamentary approval,” Yechury said.