Registration Rules, 2008 framed under Article 94 of the Representation of the People Order, 1972
Right to Information Act, 2009
Section 9:
As per the provision of the Registration Rules of our country the registered political parties are required to submit their audited statements of accounts to the Election Commission every year for the purpose of, amongst others, transparency and accountability to the people and the electorate. According to the RPO, 1972 and the said Registration Rules it is the statutory duty of the Election Commission to collect such statements of accounts from those parties on an annual basis to regulate their functioning and to ensure a free and fair electoral process. As such, such statements should not be treated as ‘secret information’ under the RTI Act. ...Badiul Alam Majumdar & ors Vs. Information Commission & anr, (Civil), 8 SCOB [2016] HCD 110 ....View Full Judgment

Ignoring the people’s right to know, keeping them in dark and playing hide-and-seek with them in a democratic country like us where all powers belong to the people and their mandate is necessary for ruling the country no registered political party can be allowed to take the stand that the audited statements submitted to the Election Commission were “secret information”. ...Badiul Alam Majumdar & ors Vs. Information Commission & anr, (Civil), 8 SCOB [2016] HCD 110
In the case in hand, though, admittedly, the political parties did not consider their submitted audited statements of accounts as ‘secret information’ or ‘confidential’, but the respondents without any mandate of law erroneously served notices upon the respective political parties concern seeking their opinion in respect of providing information to the petitioners and most of the political parties, which operate in the public sphere and have constitutional and statutory obligations for accountability and transparency, provided a negative opinion in providing such information violating the citizen’s right to information guaranteed under the RTI Act, frustrating the purpose of the Registration Rules and the RTI Act and also damaging the spirit of ensuring and guaranteeing their transparency and accountability in all spheres including the people, which is unfortunate and hence, is deprecated. ...Badiul Alam Majumdar & ors Vs. Information Commission & anr, (Civil), 8 SCOB [2016] HCD 110 ....View Full Judgment