Information about recruitment to the post of Primary Teacher at Air Force School, Sarsawa was denied claiming that it is not a public authority u/s 2(h) - Appellant submitted that she was appointed as a Teacher & was wrongly removed - CIC upheld the order
10 Jan, 2022Information Sought:
The appellant has sought the following information:
1. Provide copies of marks awarded, in different levels of examination, to the appellant and other candidates, by each Member of the Recruitment Board (total four members) constituted for recruitment to the post of Primary Teacher at Air Force School, Sarsawa.
2. Provide the copy of proceedings of counselling of the appellant done on June 22, 2019 by the Executive Director Mr. K.H.I Singha as also the copy of details submitted by the appellant.
3. Provide the copy of the proceedings of counselling of the appellant done by Principal Smt. Praveen Kaushal on 26 September 2019.
4. And others related information.
Grounds for Second Appeal
The CPIO did not provide the desired information stating that the Air Force School, Sarsawa was not a public authority u/s 2(h) “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; of the RTI Act.
Submissions made by Appellant and Respondent during Hearing:
The appellant submitted that she was appointed as a Teacher in the said school, and was wrongly removed. She further claimed that it is her fundamental right to get the documents. She further submitted that all the schools of Air Force are built on the land allotted to the Air Force Complex which is government land and in addition, the building for these schools is also being constructed by the Air Force with the government funds received from the Defence budget allocated to the Indian Air Force. So in this way, this school is bound to give information under the RTI Act 2005. She also submitted that all the Schools of the Air Force are run, managed and audited by the Officers of the Indian Air Force who themselves are government employees. Therefore, on this basis also this school is bound to give information under the RTI Act 2005. She further relied on the decision of the Commission in case no. CIC/IAIRF/A/2019/123591 dated 26.04.2021 where it was held as under by the same bench:
“Observations:
From a perusal of the relevant case records, it is seen that the CPIO in his reply had clearly stated that the information sought relates to various Non public Funds, which are not pubic authority as defined in Sec 2(h) “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; of the RTI Act. It may be noted that as per Section 2(f) “information” means any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any other law for the time being in force; of the RTI Act the definition of the term ‘information’ includes such information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a public authority under any prevalent law in force; it follows then that if information on the said points is available with the Respondent office or can be accessed from NPFs the CPIO should share that information. The CPIO is therefore directed to access the sought for information if available, and provide the same to the appellant and in case they cannot access this information, a categorical reply should be given to the appellant.
Decision:
In view of the above, the CPIO is directed to give a revised reply to the appellant as per the discussions held during the hearing within a period of 07 days from the date of issue of this order under intimation to the Commission.”
The CPIO submitted that the information sought by the appellant pertains to Air Force School, Sarsawa. Air Force Schools are run under the aegis of “The Indian Air Force Educational and Cultural Society” and do not fall under the term “Public Authority”. It is a non-public fund venture and does not fall under the definition of public authority as per Sec 2(h) “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; of the RTI Act. He further submitted that on 21.10.2009 in the matter of S.K Sharma vs IAF, CIC/SM/A/2009/000959, it was held by the Commission that the regimental funds have not been held to be public funds by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in UOI vs Chhotelal (JT 1998 (8) SC 497) and held that the AFS, Bamrauli is not a public authority u/s 2(h) “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; of the RTI Act.
He further summed up stating that none of the NPF Ventures come within the ambit of public authority. As such the CPIO cannot access any information pertaining to them and that there exists no law to access information from these ventures. In support of his argument he relied on the CIC decision in case no. CIC/IAIRF/A/2017/128647/SD in the matter of Subhash Basiyan v. CPIO, HQ WAC, IAF in which it was held that “the information on RTI application is neither available with him nor can be access from the concerned Gas Agency which is run from Non-Public Funds. Therefore, the reply provided by the CPIO to him with respect to these paragraphs was correct and in accordance with the extant provisions of the RTI Act. “
Observations:
Based on a perusal of the record, it was noted that the CPIO had suitably replied on 11.12.2019 and informed the applicant that Air Force School Sarsawa is not a public authority. He also quoted supporting decisions in this regard. The appellant in her second appeal failed to rebut the plea of the respondent. However, she relied on a decision of this bench in case no. CIC/IAIRF/A/2019/123591 dated 26.04.2021 in which CPIO was directed to provided information if accessible.
Decision:
In view of the fact that AFS Sarsawa is not a public authority u/s 2(h) “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; “public authority” means any authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature; (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes any- (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government; of the RTI Act, the CPIO was asked whether they can obtain any information from the custodian to which he submitted that they work in ex-officio capacity and will not be able to access information. In view of the same the Commission is not able to provide any relief.
The appeal is disposed of accordingly.
Vanaja N. Sarna
Information Commissioner
Citation: Priyanka Taneja v. Indian Air Force in File no.: CIC/IAIRF/A/2020/108465, Date of Decision: 01/11/2021