THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kannur International Airport’s claim that it does not fit into the category of a public authority has triggered a debate. Interestingly, a similar argument by the Cochin International Airport was rejected by the State Information Commission (SIC) in June this year.
KIAL has opposed CAG audit of its operations citing it is not a government company as the state government had only 35 pc shareholding and at least 51 pc was required to consider a company as government-owned.
Earlier, CIAL had rejected some RTI applications stating that it was not a public authority. But the SIC ruled otherwise while considering the appeal petitions. CIAL had then approached the High Court only to be sent back to the SIC for a fresh hearing.
The second hearing saw a heated debate on whether the CIAL fits into one of the definitions of a public authority in the RTI Act, i.e, a body owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government.
After hearing both the sides, State Information Commissioner S Somanathan Pillai ruled that CIAL was indeed a public authority. He pointed out that the airport was formed as per the intention of the government as it was the government that had issued the order to incorporate the erstwhile government-owned society of Kochi International Airport Society into a company.
The SIC observed that the government had substantial control over the management and affairs of CIAL. One-third of the total number of directors are nominated by the Government of Kerala with the Chief Minister as chairman and another nominee as managing director. Also, the CIAL was substantially funded by the government. Besides acquiring land for the project, the government had directed the HUDCO to invest Rs 138 crore in the project.
Above all, the SIC stated that the people had the right to know the deliberations and decisions to which the Chief Minister was a party. Since the CM chairs the CIAL director board it is applicable to the airport as well.