The Hindu: New Delhi: Saturday, 29 June 2024.
The Delhi High Court has
said that a deemed university is not a “public authority” covered in the ambit
of the Right to Information (RTI) Act unless it is under the control of or is
financed by the government.
The court’s order came on a petition by an RTI applicant seeking information with respect to the details of students, including roll number, name and father’s name, who completed MSc in Chemistry through distance learning from 2007 to 2011 from Vinayak Mission University, a deemed university.
The chief information commissioner (CIC) had refused to provide the information, noting that the institute was not a “public authority”, and the data in question pertained to its internal administration.
The court said that the RTI Act deals with entities, including non-government organisations, which are owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government, and merely because a university has been deemed to be a university, it would not be considered a public authority under the act.
“It is not the case of the Petitioner that the Respondent University is either a government authority or a non-government organisation which is substantially financed by the government, either directly or indirectly. The Respondent No. 3 university, thus, cannot be held to be a ‘public authority’ under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act and will not be amenable to the provisions of the RTI Act,” the court in its order said.
The court observed that the information sought by the petitioner was “personal” in nature and exempted under the RTI Act, and he has also not shown any material to indicate what was the public interest that would outweigh the concerns of privacy.
The court’s order came on a petition by an RTI applicant seeking information with respect to the details of students, including roll number, name and father’s name, who completed MSc in Chemistry through distance learning from 2007 to 2011 from Vinayak Mission University, a deemed university.
The chief information commissioner (CIC) had refused to provide the information, noting that the institute was not a “public authority”, and the data in question pertained to its internal administration.
The court said that the RTI Act deals with entities, including non-government organisations, which are owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government, and merely because a university has been deemed to be a university, it would not be considered a public authority under the act.
“It is not the case of the Petitioner that the Respondent University is either a government authority or a non-government organisation which is substantially financed by the government, either directly or indirectly. The Respondent No. 3 university, thus, cannot be held to be a ‘public authority’ under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act and will not be amenable to the provisions of the RTI Act,” the court in its order said.
The court observed that the information sought by the petitioner was “personal” in nature and exempted under the RTI Act, and he has also not shown any material to indicate what was the public interest that would outweigh the concerns of privacy.