Co-operative Housing Society cannot be said to be public authority : Right to Information Act, S. 2(h)

1 Co-operative Housing Society cannot be said to
be public authority : Right to Information Act, S. 2(h).

It is the case of the society that in the month of
Feb. 1970 it was registered under the Karnataka Co-operative Societies Act,
1959. The society is governed by bye-laws approved by the respondent. It is
contended that the society has not received any financial assistance from the
State Govt. and therefore the society cannot be a public authority within the
scope of the Act. But the respondent No. 2 Registrar of Cooperative Societies
has issued a notification dated 22-9-2005 to the effect that all co-operative
societies in the State are public authorities. When certain members sought for
information, the other members of the society opposed divulging information
pertaining to them. Therefore, the society rejected their request to furnish the
information on both counts. When the appeal was preferred to the Chairman of the
society, he wrote a letter to respondent No. 2 pointing out the provisions of
the Act. The Respondent No. 2 by his reply dated 30-10-2006 intimated the
Chairman of the society stating that u/s.2(h)(d) of the Act all co-operative
societies are public authorities. The respondent No. 1/Karnataka Information
Commission, on the basis of the notification dated 22-9-2005, by order dated
1-9-2006, directed the Registrar of Co-op. Societies to seek information from
the society and furnish the same to the applicant. The petitioner society
therefore filed writ under Article 226 of the Constitution of India before the
Court.

The Court observed that in the instant case the
petitioner/housing society is neither owned nor funded nor controlled by the
State. It is not the case of the State that the notification dated 22-9-2005 has
been issued u/s.2(h)(d) of the RTI Act. Solely on the basis of supervision and
control by the Registrar of Societies; and the definition of ‘public servant’ in
the Karnataka Co-op. Societies Act and in the Karnataka Lokayukta Act, 1984 a
society cannot be termed as ‘public authority’. So as to include a society
within the definition of the term ‘public authority’, it should fulfil the
conditions stipulated in sub-clause (d) of clause (h) of S. 2 of the RTI Act.
Therefore the petition was allowed holding that the petitioner-society was not a
public authority under the provision of the RTI Act, 2005.

[Dattaprasad Co-op. Hsg. Society Ltd., Bangalore
v. Karnataka State Chief Information Commissioner & Anr., AIR 2009 Karnataka
1.]