Are the political parties expected to furnish details of their income and expenditure to the Election Commission?
21 May, 2012
Background
The appellant sought some information regarding the income and expenditure of political parties along with the copies of their registration certificates. The Public Information Officer (PIO) denied the information stating that the Election Commission did not maintain any information regarding the income and expenditure of the political parties. He asked the appellant to deposit Rs. 28/- as photocopying charges so that he could provide the copies of the registration certificates. The appellant did not send the desired amount and thus no documents were sent to him.
View of CIC
The Central Information Commission (CIC) directed the appellant to deposit the additional fee if he desired the sought information. The Commission also directed the PIO to inform the appellant if there was any legal provision or requirement for political parties to furnish returns of their annual income and expenditure to the Election Commission of India and to provide the copies of the documents after receiving the photocopying charges from the appellant.
Citation: Shri Om Prakash Tolik v. Election Commission of India in File No.CIC/WB/A/2010/000738SM
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/294
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