The Central Information Commission on Monday held that the political parties are answerable under the Right to Information Act.

Setting a new bench mark in transparency in politics, a full Bench of the Commission held that the political parties should fulfill the criteria of being public authorities under the Act.

The parties to whom the RTI queries were directed included Congress, BJP, CPI-M, CPI, NCP and BSP.

The bench comprising Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra and Information Commissioners M L Sharma and Annapurna Dixit directed the Presidents and General Secretaries of the parties to designate Central Public Information Officers and Appellate Authorities at their headquarters in six weeks.