Activists urge EC to implement CIC ruling

Civil society organisation Transparency International has urged the Election Commission to implement the latest ruling by the Central Information Commission (CIC) bringing all political parties under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The organisation, a strong votary of adopting transparency measures, said the CIC’s order should be extended so as to include all regional parties.

In a significant decision “likely to usher in an era of transparency in their functioning”, the CIC on June 3 brought political parties under the ambit of RTI, recognising the need to open them up for public scrutiny given financial benefits, such as allocation of large portion of land at throw away prices, and tax exemption received by them.

“There should be transparency in the functioning of all political parties. Every political party should be open to scrutiny under the RTI. We expect the EC to take steps to enforce the ruling,” Ashutosh Kumar Mishra, director, Transparency International, said.

The commission had directed national parties, including the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, to appoint a public information officer and start disclosing information within four weeks.