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TMI Blog2014 (2) TMI 1332X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ions of the Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950. It has two educational institutions, imparting education. It is claimed that there are 700 students taking education in the Secondary and Higher Secondary school, run by the petitioner, at Sakali, Tal. Yawal, Dist. Jalgaon. Respondent No. 4 is a person unconnected with the petitioner trust and any of its institutions. 4. The petitioner submits that several persons have, as on date, moved applications before it under the R.T.I. Act. On 03/01/2011, respondent No.4 moved an application seeking vague and voluminous uncalled for information from the petitioner. Respondent No.4 has no connection with the information sought. The petitioner claims that it is not a Public Authority as per the provisions of Section 2(h) of the R.T.I. Act. The petitioner, therefore, finds itself unduly harassed and bothered on account of such applications. 5. In the light of the above, the petitioner has put forth the following prayers : " (A) By issuing appropriate writ, order, direction or any other appropriate order in the nature of writ, the Hon'ble High Court may be pleased to quash and set aside the provisions of Section 7(5) proviso of Right to Information ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nd others, reported at 2011(8) SCC 497. Paragraph Nos. 12 to 25, 59, 62, 63, 66 and 67 of the said judgment are reproduced thus :" 12. To consider these questions, it is necessary to refer to the Statement of Objects and Reasons, the Preamble and the relevant provisions of the R.T.I. Act. The R.T.I. Act was enacted in order to ensure smoother, greater and more effective access to information and provide an effective framework for effectuating the right to information recognized under Article 19 of the Constitution. The Preamble to the Act declares the object sought to be achieved by the R.T.I. Act thus : "An Act to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, in order to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority, the constitution of a Central Information Commission and State Information Commissions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Whereas the Constitution of India has established democratic republic; And whereas democracy requires an informed citizenry and transparency of information which are vital to it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... t authority is satisifed that larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information; (e) information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information ; (f) information received in confidence from foreign Government; (g) information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life or physical safety of any person or identify the source of information or assistance given in confidence for law enforcement or security purposes; (h) information which would impede the process of investigation or apprehension or prosecution of offenders; (i) cabinet papers including records of deliberations of the Council of Ministers, Secretaries and other officers; Provided that the decisions of Council of Ministers, the reasons thereof, and the material on the basis of which the decisions were taken shall be made public after the decision has been taken, and the matter is complete, or over: Provided further that those matters which come under the exemptions specified in this section shall not be disclosed; (j) information which relates to personal informa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... record, or part thereof on a request made under this Act, which relates to or has been supplied by a third party and has been treated as confidential by that third party, the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, shall, within five days from the receipt of the request, give a written notice to such third party of the request and of the fact that the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, intends to disclose the information or record, or part thereof, and invite the third party to make a submission in writing or orally, regarding whether the information should be disclosed, and such submission of the third party shall be kept in view while taking a decision about disclosure of information: Provided that except in the case of trade or commercial secrets protected by law, disclosure may be allowed if the public interest in disclosure outweighs in importance any possible harm or injury to the interests of such third party." 18. The definitions of "information", "public authority", "record and right to information" in clauses (f), (h), (i) and (j) of Section 2 of the R.T.I.Act a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... this Court observed : (SCC p.453, para 74) "74. In a Government of responsibility like ours, where all the agents of the public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but few secrets. The people of this country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way, by their public functionaries. They are entitled to know the particulars of every public transaction in all its bearing. The right to know, which is derived from the concept of freedom of speech, though not absolute, is a factor which should make one wary, when secrecy is claimed for transactions which can, at any rate, have no repercussion on public security." (emphasis supplied) 21. In Dinesh Trivedi Vs. Union of India, this Court held : "16. In modern constitutional democracies, it is axiomatic that citizens have a right to know about the affairs of the Government, which having been elected by them, seeks to formulate sound policies of governance aimed at their welfare. However, like all other rights, even this right has recognized limitations; it is, by no means, absolute..... 17. Implicit in this assertion is the proposition that in transactions which have serious r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... information held by or under the control of public authorities and not in regard to information held by any private person. The Act provides for the following exclusions by way of exemptions and exceptions (under Sections 8, 9 and 24) in regard to information held by the public authorities : (i) Exclusion of the Act in entirety under Section 24 to intelligence and security organizations specified in the Second Schedule even though they may be "public authorities" (except in regard to information with reference to allegations of corruption and human rights violations). (ii) Exemption of the several categories of information enumerated in Section 8(1) of the Act which no public authority is under an obligation to give to any citizen, notwithstanding anything contained in the Act [however, in regard to the information exempted under clauses (d) and (e), the competent authority, and in regard to the information excluded under clause (j), the Central Public Information Officer /State Public Information Officer / the appellate authority, may direct disclosure of information, if larger public interest warrants or justifies the disclosure]. (iii) If any request for providing access t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... that is section 8 of Freedom to Information Act, 2002. The Courts and Information Commissions enforcing the provisions of RTI Act have to adopt a purposive construction, involving a reasonable and balanced approach which harmonises the two objects of the Act, while interpreting section 8 and the other provisions of the Act. 63. At this juncture, it is necessary to clear some misconceptions about the RTI Act. The RTI Act provides access to all information that is available and existing. This is clear from a combined reading of section 3 and the definitions of 'information' and 'right to information' under clauses (f) and (j) of section 2 of the Act. If a public authority has any information in the form of data or analysed data, or abstracts, or statistics, an applicant may access such information, subject to the exemptions in section 8 of the Act. But where the information sought is not a part of the record of a public authority, and where such information is not required to be maintained under any law or the rules or regulations of the public authority, the Act does not cast an obligation upon the public authority, to collect or collate such nonavailable information and then fur ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of their time in collecting and furnishing information to applicants instead of discharging their regular duties. The threat of penalties under the RTI Act and the pressure of the authorities under the RTI Act should not lead to employees of a public authorities prioritizing 'information furnishing', at the cost of their normal and regular duties. 9. In the case of Chief Information Commissioner and Another Vs. State of Manipur and another, reported at AIR 2012, SC 864, it is held that : 11. It is, therefore, clear from the ratio in the above decisions of the Constitution Bench of this Court that the right to information, which is basically founded on the right to know, is an intrinsic part of the fundamental right to free speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The said Act was, thus, enacted to consolidate the fundamental right of free speech. 16. The exercise of judicial discretion in favour of free speech is not only peculiar to our jurisprudence, the same is a part of the jurisprudence in all the countries which are governed by rule of law with an independent judiciary. In this connection, if we may quote what Lord Acton said in one of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tution [See: (Central Public Information Officer Vs. Subhash Chandra Agarwal) 2010, DGLS (soft) 2314 : (2011) S.C.C. 496 and the (Hindu Urban Cooperative Bank Ltd., Vs. The State Information Commission) - Civil Writ Petition No.19224 of 2006 decided on 9th May, 2010 by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana, Coram : Mohinder Singh Sullar, J.] Section 4 of the RTI Act confers a corresponding obligation on the public authority to give information. Section 5 of the RTI Act request the public authority to designate as many PIOs as may be necessary to provide the information to the persons requesting for an information. Section 6 prescribes the manner in which a citizen is required to make a request for an information to the PIO. Section 7 casts an obligation on the PIO to give the information. Section 8, as noticed earlier, grants exemption from disclosure of certain information. Section 9 also empowers the PIO to refuse an information where the request for providing access would involve an infringement of a copyright subsisting in any person other than the State. Section 11 provides for a procedure to be followed where the disclosure of the information relates to a third party. Sectio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... der the provisions of the Act while dealing with the application of respondent No.4. Instead of rushing to this Court, the petitioner should first deal with the application filed by respondent No.4, which is pending before it. It's decision will always be subject to judicial scrutiny under the Act. 14. By this judgment, we are not expressing a view that any application, seeking any information, ought to be accepted by an Establishment and the information sought should be given to the applicant. Every authority has the scope to look into the application filed before it and decide the said application in accordance with the provisions of the R.T.I. Act. 15. Ultimately, the intent and object of the Act has to be achieved, in as much as, the petitioner can not be excused from deciding the application filed by respondent No.4 merely on the ground of hardships. We are thus unable to accept the contention of the petitioner and entertain the prayers made in this petition. 16. The petitioner has raised a challenge to the proviso below Section 7(5) of the R.T.I. Act terming it to be arbitrary and ultravirus the constitution. Section 7(5) and the proviso there below read thus : "Where ac ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ocedure followed in the decision making process, including channels of supervision and accountability; iv. the norms set by it for the discharge of its functions; v. the rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, held by it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; vi. a statement of the categories of documents that are held by it or under its control; vii. the particulars of any arrangement that exists for consultation with, or representation by, the members of the public in relation to the formulation of its policy or implementation thereof; viii. a statement of the boards, councils, committees and other bodies consisting of two or more persons constituted as its part or for the purpose of its advice, and as to whether meetings of those boards, councils, committees and other bodies are open to the public, or the minutes of such meetings are accessible for public; ix. a directory of its officers and employees; x. the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its regulations; xi. the budget allocated to each of its agency, indicating the part ..... 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