FOES UNITE TO GET NETAS UNDER RTI
Joint statement appeals government, political parties to drop proposed ordinance
NEW DELHI: Friends-turned-foe activist Aruna Roy and Aam Aadmi Party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal have issued a joint statement — anchored by ex-CIC Shailesh Gandhi — to bring political parties under the ambit of RTI despite a move to kill it through an amendment, first reported by HT on June 28.
NEW DELHI: Renewed political attack on Right to Information ( RTI) Act to exempt political parties from its purview has brought together friendsturned- foes Aruna Roy and Arvind Kejriwal.
They issued a joint statement anchored by former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi, who asked them to come together for a cause — beat the desire of the political parties to kill RTI through an amendment.
“There are reports that the government is thinking of promulgating an ordinance to amend the RTI Act. This act was passed by our Parliament and has now become a part of the extremely valuable citizen empowerment for our democracy,” said the statement issued by 13 eminent activists, including Roy and Kejriwal.
They also appealed to the government and all political parties to drop any consideration of amending the RTI Act saying there was no emergency requiring an ordinance.
Roy and Kejriwal parted way in 2011 after Kejriwal, and social activist Anna Hazare, went on a protest mode demanding that their Jan Lok Pal Bill should be accepted by the government.
In a separate statement, Aruna Roy’s National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) said it was opposed to amending the RTI Act. “We believe that the CIC order will go a long way in ensuring transparency and accountability in the functioning of political parties. Inclusion of political parties under the RTI Act will ensure that parties are accountable to the people of the country,” the statement read.
The NCPRI said if the government and political parties had any objections to the CIC order, the appropriate response would be to challenge it in court. In the past, the government and other organisations have often challenged CIC judgments in the court.
“This only goes to show that when political parties themselves are subject to the transparency law, they are willing to go to the extent of amending this landmark legislation to ensure that they are not open to public scrutiny under the Act, the NCPRI said.