Times of India: Ludhiana: Wednesday, March 13, 2013.
The Punjab
State Information Commission has declared Dayanand Medical College and Hospital
(DMCH) a public authority. The bench headed by Chief Information Commissioner R
I Singh directed DMCH to appoint a Public Information Officer (PIO) in
compliance with provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.
The three
bench commission pronounced the judgment on two complaints filed by Rohit
Sabharwal and Dr Sandeep Kumar, under Section 18 of the Right to Information
Act, 2005, pleading that their RTI applications dated December 12, 2011 and
February 24, 2012, respectively, addressed to the respondent a?? Dayanand
Medical College and Hospital a?? seeking information regarding queries
mentioned therein were declined by the respondent on the grounds that it is a
non-government un-aided private body and not a public authority within the
meaning of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.
The case was that
the respondent hospital is a non-government organization substantially financed
directly or indirectly by funds provided by appropriate government/s within the
meaning of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act and therefore, it is a "public
authority" under the said Act.
The
complainant had pleaded that DMCH should be declared a public authority since
it uses the state and central government benefits.
The
complainant had submitted that DMCH is not paying the house tax to the
municipal corporation as it has been exempted, being a charitable trust. The
complainants had also pleaded that DMCH is a society registered under Section
12(a) of the Income Tax Act and has been granted exemption under Section 80(g)
of the Act. The complainants had also submitted that DMCH had taken exemption
of stamp fee on registration of land many times, being a charitable trust.
"We hold
that the respondent Dayanand Medical College and Hospital is a public authority
within the ambit of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act. We direct that the respondent
shall take all appropriate measures to implement the RTI Act, including
appointment of Public Information Officer, within one month of this order"
the commission ordered.
The
commission further ordered: "In our opinion, these are not fit cases to
impose any penalty under Section 20 of the RTI Act, on the grounds of denial of
information. A number of arguable legal issues were involved in these cases
which needed determination and given the facts and circumstances, we feel that
the conduct of the respondent was not unreasonable, more so as there were
earlier decisions of the commission in which respondent was held to be not a
public authority under the Act." Rohit Sabharwal, one of the complainants,
said: "As DMCH has been declared a public authority, they will have to
give complete records to the patient of his treatment. Also it will help in
more transparency of work."
Reacting to
the development, Prem Kumar Gupta, secretary DMCH society, said: "DMCH is
not aided by the state or Centre though it is a charitable hospital. We are
appealing against the judgment in HC."
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