New Delhi: The CIC has issued show-cause notices to BJP President Amit Shah and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi along with the heads of four other political parties asking why an inquiry should not be instituted in the matter of non-compliance of its order to implement the RTI Act.
Last year, on a plea by activist Subhash Agrawal, the Central Information Commission (CIC) had declared six national parties—Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI, CPI-M and BSP—as public authorities, thereby bringing them under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.
However, none of the parties either contested the decision in courts or followed the instructions of the panel.
The Commission had issued notices on February 7 and March 25 to these political parties seeking their detailed comments on the complaint by Agrawal that they had not complied with the orders of the CIC.
“Therefore, a notice is issued to show cause within four weeks as to why an inquiry should not be initiated in the matter of non-compliance of the Commission's order dated June 3, 2013, under Section 18 of the RTI Act, 2005... Take further notice that if you fail to respond within prescribed time, the matter will be processed on the strength of material on record, in accordance with law,” the notice said.
The notice has been sent to the chiefs of Congress, BJP, BSP and NCP and to the general secretaries of CPI and CPI-M. The move comes close on the heels of a Delhi High Court order which directed the Commission to decide in six months on a complaint against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi regarding the issue of non-compliance with the transparency panel's directions that the party was answerable under the RTI Act.
