Times of India: New Delhi: Tuesday,
October 04, 2016.
Delhi High
Court on Monday stayed a Central Information Commission's (CIC) order directing
Hockey India (HI) to disclose details of sponsorship amount received by it in
the last two years and the commission it had paid to get them.
Justice
Sanjeev Sachdeva also issued notice to expelled BJP MP Kirti Azad seeking his
response on the plea of HI which has moved the court challenging CIC's
direction.
"Issue
notice to respondent no. 2 (Azad). Till the next date of hearing, the order
will remain stayed," the court said and fixed the matter for further
consideration on February 8 next year.
The CIC
directive had come on the plea of the BJP MP who had sought the response of HI,
the apex body which conducts activities for both men's and women's hockey in
the country, on seven points, including sponsorship details.
The MP had
also sought to know the details of expenditure incurred on consultancy and
legal expenses in the last two years with name of each consultants and lawyers
engaged by HI and the Hockey India League.
Senior
advocate Rajiv Nayar, appearing for HI, asked how was the BJP leader entitled
to have such information.
Earlier, the
Hockey India had argued before the CIC that these details were already in the
public domain through their website and hence they need not provide them under
the Right to Information Act.
Azad had
argued before the CIC that he had not received the information on the points
relating to sponsorship amount, commission paid to get sponsorship and
expenditure incurred on consultancy and legal expenses.
The charge
was countered by HI counsel who had said that the website was complete and they
could provide printouts.
However, the
Commission had said in its order that it was of "the considered view that
the appellant has been deprived by the respondents deliberately from having the
benefits of the RTI Act, 2005, even after lapse of more than 11 months period.
As such, the Commission feels that appellant's second appeal deserves to be
allowed partly ... Therefore, it is allowed accordingly."
It had said
Hockey India will provide printouts of their website with regards to three
issues -- sponsorship amount, commission paid to get it, and legal and
consultancy fee paid by it -- and if the information is not available on the
website, they will furnish it to Azad.
.JPG)
.JPG)
