V S LEE Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Is an aided college in the State of Kerala 'a public authority' as defined in S.2(h)(d) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, for short, the 'RTI Act' This has been answered in the affirmative as per the impugned judgment. Hence, these writ appeals.

(2.) Adverting to the preamble to the RTI Act, the learned Judge held that it is abundantly clear that the scope of the Act is much wider in its applicability than getting confined to Governments and their instrumentalities and that the Act is intended to harmonise the conflict between the right of the citizens to secure access to information and the necessity to preserve confidentiality of sensitive information. Noticing that even the preamble states that the Act is intended to provide the practical regime of right to information in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, it has been held that in terms of S.3 and S.4, the public authorities are obliged to supply information. Considering the definition of 'public authority' in S.2(h), it has been laid down that on the basis of the undisputed facts regarding the control and funding of the aided private colleges after the introduction of the Direct Payment Scheme, such an institution falls within the definition of the term 'public authority' notwithstanding whether it may, or not, be 'State' within Art.12 of the Constitution. It was specifically held that the Act is not confined to bodies answering the definition of 'State' under Art.12, which definition primarily governs enforcement of fundamental rights. Holding that the Act is intended at achieving the object of providing an effective framework for effectuating the right to information recognised under Art.19 of the Constitution, it has been held that aided private colleges in the State of Kerala fall within the term 'public authority' in the RTI Act.

(3.) Contentions and arguments of appellants