The Election Commission has denied registering an application filed in line with the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking information about the expenses made by the political parties in elections. Taranath Dahal and Sanjib Ghimire on behalf of RTI Support Centre of the freedom1 Forum had filed the application, seeking information about the election expenses of the political parties that contested the Constituent Assembly elections. They had also requested information about the candidate that was the most spendthrift and thereby had violated the Election Act and if any action was taken against the particular candidate. An officer at the registration section of the Election Commission told the information seekers that there was no information officer, and no application would be registered without stamp and written approval of the legal section or the Secretary of the Commission. With this, the EC sent back the information seekers empty handed on Tuesday, according to petitioners Dahal and Ghimire. Citing the RTI Act 2007 provision of requiring every public agency to have an information officer to compulsorily make public the information of the agency concerned, the information seekers on Wednesday registered an appeal at the National Information Commission
Freedom Forum is a prominent non-governmental organization in Nepal dedicated to institutionalizing democracy, protecting and promoting human rights, press freedom, freedom of expression, right to information, promoting audit accountability, open and accountable budget, public finance reforms, citizen engagement in public finance management and citizen participation in audit. Established in February 2005, the organization emerged in response to the political turmoil following Former King Gyanendra’s coup dated February 1, 2005, which imposed severe restrictions on media and democratic rights. A group of media professionals, legal experts, and academics founded Freedom Forum to safeguard Nepal’s hard-earned democratic freedoms during this repressive period.
