In Ms Eliamma Sebastian v Ministry Of Home Affairs and Ors, Delhi High Court held that the Registrar of Cooperative Societies is a public authority and duty bound to comply with the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). As such the registrar is required to provide information as provided for under section 2(f) of the act, subject to the limitations provided under section 8.
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Sebastian, a member of the Sangha Mitra CGHS, a cooperative housing society, had filed several right to information applications to obtain audit reports and other documents pertaining to the working of the society. The applications were filed before the state public information officer (SPIO).
Dissatisfied with the order of the first appellate authority and the subsequent action of the SPIO – both of whom are officials of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies – Sebastian appealed before the Central Information Commission (CIC). The CIC dismissed the appeal, holding that cooperative societies are outside the purview of the act. The CIC said the information could be accessed from the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, under section 139 of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, 1972, as the registrar is a public authority and holds information on the cooperative society. This prompted a petition by Sebastian to Delhi High Court.
The high court observed that while the object of both section 2(f) of the RTI Act and section 139 of the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, is to provide information to an applicant, the RTI Act applies to the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act, insofar as it enables access to information held by a cooperative society. As the Registrar of Cooperative Societies discharges statutory functions and is a public authority under the RTI Act, the registrar has to provide information that pertains to the cooperative society.
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The dispute digest is compiled by Bhasin & Co, Advocates, a corporate law firm based in New Delhi. The authors can be contacted at lbhasin@bhasinco.in or lbhasin@gmail.com. Readers should not act on the basis of this information without seeking professional legal advice.
