Times of India: Mumbai: Saturday, July 21, 2018.
In a
significant interim order, the Bombay high court on Thursday issued notice to
state chief information commissioner and stayed his order which had brought all
slum societies under the ambit of Right to Information Act (RTI). The HC was
hearing a fresh challenge to an order of the State CIC which in one stroke
brought thousands of slum societies under the provisions of RTI making them
liable to share information akin to a public body.
A slum
society in Andheri had moved the HC against a December 2017 order passed by the
state CIC and a subsequent order of April 2018 issued by a joint registrar Slum
Rehabilitation Authority to it. Andheri Juhu Lane Nav Bharat Cooperative
Housing society Limited in its petition questioned the legality and validity of
these orders. The society’s lawyers Atul Damle and Ajay Patil said the state
CIC appears to have passed an order which is not only lacking in application of
mind and against established principles of natural justice but also one that
has misinterpreted a landmark Supreme Court verdict. The SC had in 2013 held
that housing societies do not come under RTI and the state info commissioner’s
order is contrary to it said, senior counsel Damle before a bench of Justices
SS Kemkar and Nitin Sambre. The bench then adjourned the matter for further
hearing and stayed the orders.
“Prima facie
we are of the view that the impugned order runs contrary to the judgment passed
by the Supreme Court in the case of Thalappalam Service Cooperative Bank
Limited and others...” said the bench in its order.
Under the
Slum Act, Slumdwellers have to form their own cooperative housing society. And
70 percent consent of members is required for appointment of a developer for
redevelopment. The CIC order had directed that all slums societies under SRA
should have to appoint their own information officers and directed authorities
to ensure there is an appellate body too.
The essential
issue being raised before the HC is that there is already an in-built mechanism
and provision within the Cooperative Societies Act in Maharashtra that
stipulates sharing of information to members, and hence there is no need to
bring such Cooperative Housing Societies within the domain of RTI Act.
The State
Chief Information Commissioner had while hearing one matter involving one such
slum society passed an order on December 19, 2017 and declared that provisions
of RTI Act shall apply to all the societies under SRA.
Section 32 of
the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, is parallel to the provision
of Sections 3 and 7 of the RTI Act, said the petition as it covers rights of
members to inspect and see “free of cost’’ the society’s office, and is
entitled to get, for a fee, copies of audited annual balance sheet, profit and
loss account, its committee members’ list as well as list of members, minutes
of general meetings and records of society’s transactions.
Cooperative
housing societies are of course subject to the control of the statutory authorities
like the Registrar, Joint Registrar, Slum Rehabilitation Authority said the
plea but it doesn’t mean that the state can exercises direct or indirect
control on affairs of the housing societies under the SRA. Registrar of the
Cooperative Housing Societies, SRA Mumbai under the MCS Act is however, a
public authority and subject to provisions of the RTI Act.
The petition
said, “The State CIC ought to have seen that the slum societies though
established under the provisions of Cooperative Societies Act are not financed
by the State. In fact the developers appointed by SRA Authority develops the
slums by paying the land premiums to the planning authority and construct the
rehab buildings for the slum dwellers. Therefore for the schemes of redevelopment
of the slums, no funds come from the State Government and hence the findings
given by the State CIC are contrary to the provisions of the Act.’’ Under the
slum schemes, a developer is required to deposit some amount towards
maintenance in the name of the society.
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