Information panel tees off as golf club looks on

Bangalore Mirror: Bangalore: Saturday, 08 November 2014.

Karnataka Golf Association declared a 'public authority', open to scrutiny under RTI Act

After the Bangalore Golf Club and the KSCA, now it's the turn of the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) to come under the RTI ambit as it has been declared a 'public authority'.

The Karnataka Information Commission recently ruled so on the ground that KGA received substantial financing in the form of land leased to it at a subsidized price. Declaring KGA a public authority, the commission has asked the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC), which is the custodian of the land on which KGA is situated, to appoint a Public Information Officer for the institution.

The commission, on October 24, ruled so, ending a two-year debate between KGA, which had taken a stand that it was a private entity, and a group of activists who pursued the issue, taking the view that it should be brought under the RTI Act. "In view of the reason stated, the commission hereby declares that the respondent, KGA, is a public authority. The managing director of the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation is directed to take necessary action in the light of the observations made in this order for designating a PIO and first appellate authority under section 5 and 19 (1) of the RTI Act respectively as the KGA is a public authority in the light of the substantial financing by the state government indirectly by way of leasing land to it for 30 years," D Thangaraj, state information commissioner, had ordered.

KGA came into existence in May 1980 with an allocation of over 124 acres of land in Challaghatta by the government to develop the Karnataka Golf Association in Kodihalli off Old Airport road.

The debate whether KGA should or shouldn't share information started with a city-based RTI activist, Umapati S, filing an application in August 2012 seeking information on the public disclosure to be made by a public authority under section 4 1 (a) and 4 1 (b) of the RTI Act, which pertains to information on the composition, nature, duties and government facilities availed pertaining to KGA.

However, it was turned down as KGA took a stand that it was not a public authority. Subsequently, Umapati and another activist decided to take the issue to a higher level and contended the same before the information commission, filing a petition before the state information commission on June 26, 2013.

"The state government through KSTDC had initially allotted 124 acres of land to KGA at Rs.1 rent per acre per annum. They were paying Rs.124 per annum which comes down to a few paise per acre per month. Recently, the Siddaramaiah government renewed the lease with rent as 2 percent of income. On the grounds that the government had leased the land and facilities at a subsidized price, we had contended that the commission should declare it as a public authority," T Narasimhamurthy, another activist told Bangalore Mirror.

However, KGA had taken the stand that it was not funded by the State or Central government and as no government facilities were availed of at concessional rates, it didn't attract the definition of public authority.

However, the information commission after a detailed inquiry declared that KGA is a public authority and that a PIO should be appointed. With this, all information pertaining to KGA comes into public ambit, said activists.

Interestingly, in this case, fearing a stay on the order, activists who pursued the issue have already filed a caveat in the high court.

"Most clubs resort to a stay from the court on coming under the RTI scanner. Fearing the same, we have already filed a caveat. With this, we will now go ahead with our applications seeking information from KGA," Umapati told Bangalore Mirror.