CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
.....
F.No.CIC/AT/A/2008/00429
Dated, the 15th July, 2008.
Appellant : Shri Anil Sood
Respondents : Office of Registrar Cooperative Societies
This matter came up for hearing on 01.07.2008 pursuant to Commission’s
hearing notice dated 27.05.2008. Appellant was present in person, while the
respondents were absent. Respondents’ written submission has been received in
the Commission.
2. Appellant had filed his RTI-request dated 08.01.2008 soliciting certain
information pertaining to a Cooperative Society called Kirpal CGHS; 44, I.P.
Extension, Patparganj, Delhi. The AA stated in his order dated 22.02.2008,
pursuant to the appellant’s first-appeal dated 11.02.2008, that appellant should
file a proper application under Section 139 of the DCS Act-2003 read with
Section 65 of the DCS Rules-2007, which entitles the appellant as a member of
the above Cooperative Society to receive directly from the Society the
requisitioned information. He further pointed out that appellant was free to file
an appeal under the same Section before the Asst. Registrar of Cooperative
Societies, if he fails to receive the information from the Society.
3. The AA further ordered that a part of the information requested in the
appellant’s RTI-application, which related to the office of the Registrar of
Cooperative Societies, may be provided to him by the Asst. Registrar (East).
4. Earlier, the SPIO through his communications dated 01.02.2008 and
18.02.2008 informed the appellant that the Cooperative Society’s management
was willing to allow the appellant to inspect all the records.
5. Copy of letter dated 09.02.2008 received from the Society management
comprising 2 pages was also transmitted to the appellant by SPIO, Shri Sushil
Kumar, Assistant Registrar (East).
6. The appellant has challenged the findings of the respondents ― the SPIO
and the AA ― in second-appeal.
7. He has argued that AA had erred in directing the appellant to take
recourse to Section 139 of the DCS Act. According to him, if a Society
management itself is disinclined to provide information to the Registrar of
Cooperative Societies, how was it expected that the information would be
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disclosed to an ordinary member of the Society. He has demanded that all the
information should be ordered to be disclosed to him as requested by him and the
Registrar of Cooperative Societies conduct a time-bound enquiry as to “how this
bogus bye-law provided to applicant reaches their office and how SPIO without
checking whether these are genuine or bogus send them to applicant [sic]”
Decision:
8. This application raises an important point about the applicability of the
provisions of the RTI Act under Section 2(f) in matters where the ‘other laws’
such as the Delhi Cooperative Societies Act (DCS Act) contains a specific
disclosure of information provision for a certain category of applicants, viz.
members of Cooperative Society.
9. The Cooperative Societies are undoubtedly private organizations. As such
they are prima-facie outside the scope of the RTI Act. However, information
related to the Cooperative Societies are accessible through the RTI Act through
Section 2(f) of the Act, which states that information held by a private body
which can be accessed by a public authority under a given law can be accessed
through the RTI Act. It follows from it, that the RTI Act can be invoked to
access privately held information provided it can be proved that there was a
given set of laws under which that information can be accessed by a public
authority. In this case, that law is the DCS Act. It, however, follows from it that
the manner of accessing the information held by the private body under that law
shall be strictly under the provisions of ‘other law’. In other words, if the
‘other law’ clearly lays down as to who can access the information held by the
private body ― Cooperative Society being one — and the methodology of
accessing that information including the appellate process, it is this law and not
RTI Act that shall be invoked for accessing the information.
10. The respondents have persuasively argued that as Section 139 of the DCS
Act and Rule 65 of the DCS Rules were incorporated in the DCS Act after the
enactment of the RTI Act, the access to the information held by the Cooperative
Societies shall be governed by the provisions of the DCS Act and not the RTI
Act. Even otherwise, in the light of what has been stated in the preceding
paragraph, the application of Section 2(f) to privately held information must
subject itself to the limits of the ‘other law’ under which such information is
sought to be accessed under this Section of the RTI Act. If the other law has a
self-contained provision about accessing any privately held information, the RTI
Act cannot be invoked for accessing that information.
11. This matter was discussed in some detail in Rajender Goel & Ors. Vs.
Registrar of Cooperative Societies; Appeal Nos.CIC/AT/A/2007/01525, 1526,
CIC/AT/A/2008/00040, 41, 42, 99, 100 & 101; Date of Decision: 30.06.2008.
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12. In the context of the above discussion, it would be correct to argue that
matters related to Cooperative Societies ― those Societies being private bodies
― cannot be accessed by ‘any’ petitioner, but only by a member of the Society
as provided in Section 139 of the DCS Act. Apart from the above, the
entitlement of such members and the procedure of the disclosure as well as the
appellate proceeding shall be in terms of the provisions of Section 139 of the
DCS Act read with Rule 65 of the DCS Rules and not the RTI Act.
13. In view of the above, the part of the information the appellant wishes to
have from the Cooperative Society will need to be accessed by him under
Section 139 of the DCS Act. The other part of the information, which was
transmitted to him as held by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, was
properly done under the RTI Act. Appellant seems to have some reservations
about the veracity of that information. If he so wishes, he can inspect the records
of the RCS to satisfy himself about the validity of the information provided to
him. The SPIO is directed to facilitate such inspection by the appellant within 2
weeks from the date of the receipt of this order.
14. It is also noted that the Cooperative Society has given in writing to the AA
and the SPIO that they have no objection to the appellant inspecting their
records. The appellant may take advantage of this offer under Section 139 of the
DCS Act.
15. The appeal is accordingly disposed of.
16. Copy of this decision be sent to the parties.
Sd/-
(A.N. TIWARI)
INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
Authenticated by –
Sd/-
( D.C. SINGH )
Under Secretary & Asst. Registrar
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