The Supreme Court on Friday called for written responses from the Centre, the Election Commission, and six major political parties regarding petitions that advocate for bringing political entities under the Right to Information Act (RTI). The petitions, lodged by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay, aim to increase transparency and curb the use of black money in elections.
The bench, led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, is set to conduct a final hearing on a non-miscellaneous day after April 21. The parties involved have been instructed to submit their written statements, limited to three pages, ahead of this date.
This directive follows a longstanding appeal by ADR, represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, which has been pending for over a decade. Bhushan argued that political parties should be considered public authorities under the RTI Act due to the significant public funding and privileges they receive, such as free airtime during elections and subsidized land rates.
Ashwini Upadhyay’s 2019 petition complements this by demanding that political parties be declared public authorities to enhance their accountability to the electorate and reduce financial malpractices in political funding. His plea also seeks stringent enforcement of compliance with the RTI Act and other relevant election laws by the Election Commission, including the potential de-registration of non-compliant parties.
The petitions reference several instances of what they allege as indirect government financing of political parties, including the allotment of prime real estate and the provision of free broadcast time by Doordarshan during election periods. These benefits, the petitioners argue, necessitate a higher level of financial transparency from political parties.
