Co-ops are public authority: HC

The Asian Age: Chennai: Sunday, May 20, 2012.

The Madras high court has held that a co-operative society registered under the Tamil Nadu Co-Operative Societies Act is controlled by the government and hence it is a public authority within the meaning of Section 2 (h) of Right To Information (RTI) Act.

Justice K. Chandru dismissed petitions from the Rasipuram Cooperative Urban Bank Limited in Namakkal district and the Illyankudi Cooperative Urban Bank Limited in Sivagangai district, which sought to declare that the two banks were not a public authority.

Senior counsel R. Muthukumarasamy cited the judgment of the Karnataka and Bombay high courts and contended that the cooperative society was not a public authority within the meaning of Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act.

The judge said a reading of the judgments of both high courts did not indicate the provisions of the co-operative societies Act under which those societies were functioning.