Indian Express: Debabrata Mohanty:Tuesday,16 August, 2011.
Bhubaneswar : In A significant decision, the Orissa Information Commission has passed an order bringing Reliance Power-owned power distribution companies Southern Electricity Supply Company of Orissa Ltd (SOUTHCO), WESCO and NESCO under the purview of the RTI Act, 2005.
Since 1999, Reliance Infra (then BSES) has been running the power distribution business in 23 districts of the state through discoms NESCO, WESCO and and SOUTHCO. Another discom CESU, which was being managed by AES, later went under government control after the company left it.
Disposing of several complaint petitions and second appeals, Information Commissioner Jagadananda has directed the chief executives of three discoms to furnish permissible information within 10 days of receipt of the order to RTI applicants, appoint a PIO, additional PIO and the First Appellate Authority in the organisation as per the Act.
Jagadananda also has asked the discoms to publish all relevant facts about such policies and decisions for the information of public under the Act, while formulating policies or decisions affecting the public. The Information Commissioner also has asked the discoms to comply with the order within a month of its issue.
The order is significant as it comes in the wake of a Supreme Court verdict rejecting a special leave petition of three discoms challenging an order of Orissa High Court that they come under the RTI Act’s purview.
Though the Naveen Patnaik government in 2005 had passed an order bringing the four discoms under the RTI Act, they challenged the order in the HC, saying that they are exclusively private bodies, and as such they are not Public Authorities within the meaning of Section 2 (h) of RTI Act, 2005.
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