AAP reax on Centre's stand on keeping pol parties out of RTI

AAP reaction on Centre’s stand on keeping political parties out of RTI Act :

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party opposes the central government’s view that political parties should be kept out of the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The AAP is committed to complete transparency and probity in its functioning and strongly supports bringing the political parties under RTI.

The central government’s stand before the Supreme Court on Monday is a retrograde step and will lower the credibility of the political class in the eyes of the citizens of the country.

The BJP’s central government should have called an all-party meeting before taking such a stand in the Supreme Court, which will have serious repercussions for political parties across the spectrum in the country.

BJP leaders, who are now senior ministers in the union cabinet, should look back and reflect on what they had stated in their public utterances when the then Congress-led UPA government had unsuccessfully attempted to amend the RTI Act in 2013, following the landmark Central Information Commission ruling on the subject.

Such a U-turn by the BJP, equating it with the Congress, does not augur well for the country’s democracy.

The AAP demands that the central government should review its stand and withdraw its submission in the Supreme Court.

The Centre should proceed only when it has ascertained the views of all parties represented in the Parliament/State legislatures.