The Asian Age: New Delhi: Wednesday,
October 19, 2016.
Delhi’s
Constitution Club, that seves as a forum for “interacton amongst the past and
present member of Parliament”, will now be covered under the Right to
Information (RTI) Act, a division bench of the Central Information Commission
(CIC) has held.
A bench of
information commissioners Sudhir Bhargava and Sridhar Acharyulu has declared
the posh Rafi Marg club as a “public authority” under the RTI Act.
As per
Section 2 (H) of the RTI Act, a public authority means any authority or body or
institution established or constituted; by or under the Constitution, by any
other law made by Parliament or state legislature, by notification issued or
order made by the appropriate Government.
It includes
any body owned, controlled or substantially financed; non-government
organisation substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided
by the appropriate government.
Following the
directives of the CIC, the club will have to set up apparatus for processing
RTI applications. The directives came on the plea of RTI activist Subhash
Agrawal.
“The division
bench of CIC has declared Constitution Club as public authority under the Right
to Information Act,” Mr Agrawal said.
The
Constitution Club of India was established in February 1947 for the members of
the Indian Constituent Assembly which framed the country’s Constitution. But it
later emerged as a forum for past and present parliamentarians.
The club has
four conference halls, indoor and outdoor catering service, coffee shops,
billboard room, four lounges, gym, spa and a unisex salon.
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