Economic Times: Chandigarh: Monday, 28 July 2014.
Air Force
Sports Complex located at posh Race Course area is a public authority coming
under the Right to Information Act, a full-bench of the Central Information
Commission has held rejecting its contention that it is a private body.
AFSC pleaded
that it is a private body which is not substantially financed by the government
and hence it is not liable to provide any responses to the RTI applicants.
A full bench
comprising Chief Information Commissioner Rajiv Mathur and Information
Commissioners Sharat Sabharwal and M Sridhar Acharyulu rejected the arguments
as it found that government has given the complex substantial land which is a
kind of indirect funding.
The documents
supplied by the Defence Estate Officer showed that according to their records, Air
Force authorities are in occupation of 126.948 acres of Ministry of Urban
Development land at the Air Force Station, Race Course.
According to
DEO, out of 100 acres allotted to Defence Ministry for construction of Race
Course area, 52.80 acres was formally transferred to Defence Ministry on which
the complex is located.
It also came
to the notice of the Bench that top-most officers of Defence Services are
having control of the management of AFSC.
The AFSC
cited a Supreme Court order which said unless the record show that the funding
was so substantial to the body which practically by such funding and but for
such funding it would struggle to exist.
The AFSC said
it does not receive any such funding but CIC rejected it and held that the
complex cannot exist if government withdraws the permission to use the land.
The AFSC is conducting its activities only because the land was permitted to be
used by its owners MoD and MoUD.
The Bench
directed the AFSC to conform itself with all the provisions of the RTI
including the appointment of a CPIO for responding to RTI queries.