BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday declared that the Century Club is a public authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order dismissing a petition filed by Century Club, questioning the order passed by the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) declaring the club as a public authority.
Advocate S Umapathy had filed the application to the club, seeking certain documents under the RTI Act in 2012, and the club in November of the same year informed him that it is not a public authority as defined under Section 2(4) of the Act, and therefore, there is no necessity to furnish the said information to him.
Against this, Umapathy moved the KIC in 2013 on the ground that the Maharaja of Mysore, having provided a free grant of 7.5 acres of land abutting Cubbon Park to Century Club, amounts to substantial indirect finance by the state and therefore, the club would be covered under the RTI Act.
However, the Century Club contended before the KIC that though the land had been granted by the then Maharaja of Mysore, the same cannot be construed as substantially financing the club, which is an independent society, and it cannot come within the purview of the RTI Act.
Rejecting it, the KIC on March 14, 2018, passed the order impugned, directing the club to furnish the information. Therefore, the club moved the HC in 2018.