Hindustan Times: Lucknow: Sunday,
8 September 2024.
UP Information Commissioner questions why the Dargah Sayed Salar Masood Ghazi is exempt from RTI if the Sunni Waqf Board claims control. Response due by Sept 26.
The Uttar Pradesh
information commissioner, Mohd Nadeem, has issued a notice to the chief
executive officer (CEO) of UP Sunni Waqf Board, asking him to reply how the
Dargah Sayed Salar Masood Ghazi, Bahraich, could be out of the purview of the
RTI (Right to Information) if the Board has accepted before the commission that
the Dargah is under its control, said a source.
The source said that the UP Sunni Waqf Board had accepted before the state information commissioner that the Bahraich Dargah is under its control. Now, the CEO of the Board has been asked to reply by September 26 if the Dargah is under its control then how could it be out of the purview of RTI, and why action could not be taken against it if it refuses to give a reply under RTI?
The information commissioner has fixed September 26 as the next date for the hearing in the case.
The source said that the Bahraich Dargah management committee had been rejecting applications under RTI and it argues that it is not under the purview of the RTI, and thus, was not under any compulsion to provide information.
“Because of the rejection by the committee, there are 11 applications from various applicants pending under RTI,” the source said.
Reacting to the non-response to the RTI requests, Sayed Shamshad, the president of Dargah Sayed Salar Masood Ghazi management committee said: “Dargah Shareef Bahraich is a non-government and unaided religious centre, and thus, does not fall under the definition of public authority under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act.” He said the management committee had already informed the state information commission in connection with the issue through a letter dated June 5, 2024.
He said that the Dargah is only registered with the Sunni Central Waqf Board as waqf No 19 and the management committee of the Dargah was set up by the order of the high court.
He said the institutions that receive financial grants from the government, come under the Right to Information. He said even the Kerala and Andhra high court had given a detailed judgment over the issue that the institutions which have not received any financial assistance from the government do not come under the Right to Information as per section 2(H) of the Act”.
UP Information Commissioner questions why the Dargah Sayed Salar Masood Ghazi is exempt from RTI if the Sunni Waqf Board claims control. Response due by Sept 26.
The source said that the UP Sunni Waqf Board had accepted before the state information commissioner that the Bahraich Dargah is under its control. Now, the CEO of the Board has been asked to reply by September 26 if the Dargah is under its control then how could it be out of the purview of RTI, and why action could not be taken against it if it refuses to give a reply under RTI?
The information commissioner has fixed September 26 as the next date for the hearing in the case.
The source said that the Bahraich Dargah management committee had been rejecting applications under RTI and it argues that it is not under the purview of the RTI, and thus, was not under any compulsion to provide information.
“Because of the rejection by the committee, there are 11 applications from various applicants pending under RTI,” the source said.
Reacting to the non-response to the RTI requests, Sayed Shamshad, the president of Dargah Sayed Salar Masood Ghazi management committee said: “Dargah Shareef Bahraich is a non-government and unaided religious centre, and thus, does not fall under the definition of public authority under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act.” He said the management committee had already informed the state information commission in connection with the issue through a letter dated June 5, 2024.
He said that the Dargah is only registered with the Sunni Central Waqf Board as waqf No 19 and the management committee of the Dargah was set up by the order of the high court.
He said the institutions that receive financial grants from the government, come under the Right to Information. He said even the Kerala and Andhra high court had given a detailed judgment over the issue that the institutions which have not received any financial assistance from the government do not come under the Right to Information as per section 2(H) of the Act”.
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