TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2010 (1) TMI 978
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....r Section 2(h) of the said Act. Petitioners‟ facts and contentions: WP 876/2007 2. Briefly the facts of the case in W.P. 876/2007, filed by the IOA are that the IOA is the apex body in the field of Olympic sports in the country and a society registered under the Indian laws. It is an autonomous body controlled and supervised by the International Olympic Committee. The first respondent applied for information from the Central Government, addressing a letter to the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), seeking particulars relating to the hierarchy of the authorities set-up under the Act, status of the latest audited accounts of the IOA for the years 2004-05, 2005-06 and all particulars of expenses incurred by the IOA in connection with the visits by anyone to Melbourne or any other destination in connection with the Commonwealth Games, from 1st January, 2006 to 15th April, 2006. Not receiving the reply of the kind he expected, the first respondent/information applicant approached the third respondent (referred to as "the CIC") with a complaint. The petitioner, and second respondent (referred to as "the Central Government"), made submissions as to the maintainability of ....
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.... to such NOC or represented within it is hampered by the effect of legal provisions or regulations in force in the country concerned or by acts of other entities within such country, whether sporting or otherwise. 32. Composition of the NOCs 4. Governments or other public authorities shall not designate any members of an NOC. However, an NOC may decide, at its discretion, to elect as members representatives of such authorities. Bye-law to Rules 31 and 32. 7. NOCs which cease temporarily or permanently to be recognized by the IOC thereupon lose all rights conferred upon them by the IOC including, but not limited to, the rights; 7.1 to call or refer to themselves as "National Olympic Committee" 7.2 to use their Olympic emblems. 7.3 to benefit from the activity of Olympic Solidarity. 7.4 To take part in activities led or patronized by the IOC (including regional games); 7.5 To send competitors, team officials and other team personnel to the Olympic Games. 7.6 To belong to any association of NOCs. 9.4 seek sources of financing which will enable them to maintain their autonomy in all respects. The collection of funds must however, be accomplished in accordance with the Olympic....
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....ntral Government, which then, in turn, sanctions 85% of such expenses, after sanction-money is deposited into the IOA account and directly remitted to the service provider/hotel etc. As regards coaching camps, the Central Government reimburses the concerned National Sports Federations for the expenses incurred, or directly makes payments to the players. All funds received from or disbursed by the Central Government are duly accounted for and subject to scrutiny by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, who addresses the public concern for appropriate utilization and accounting of the amounts. 6. It is contended that completely ignoring these salient aspects, the CIC, by its impugned order dated 28.11.2006, brushed-aside IOA‟s objections and decided that it was a public-authority and thus obliged to comply with the provisions of the Act. 7. The relevant part of the impugned order of CIC reads as follows: "8. In the present case, in terms of Olympic Charter, IOA has the exclusive powers for the representation of India at the Olympic Games and at the regional, continental or multi sports competitions patronized by the IOC. In other words, the main function of IOA is to....
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....ither directly or indirectly by the funds provided by the Government, I have no hesitation to hold that it is a public authority governed by the provisions of the RTI Act. IOA has contended that that in terms of Olympic Charter, IOA cannot be under the control of the Government or bureaucrats. Just because, it is a public authority in terms of RTI Act, it neither becomes a governmental organization nor can be treated to be under the control of the Government. Therefore the said contention is misplaced. The object of RTI Act is to bring transparency and since IOA discharges public function in the sense, that it is the nodal agency through which alone citizens could participate in international sports, it should have no hesitation to keep its functions transparent. Being a public authority in terms of RTI Act, does not, and cannot, in any way compromise its position or functioning in relation to the Olympic Charter. 9. Accordingly I direct IOA to publish details as required in terms of 4(b) of RTI Act and also to designate CPIO and AA within a month from the date of this Decision. It will also furnish the information sought by the Complainant by the same date. Ministry of Sports sha....
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.... the audited reports, copies of which are placed on record, disclose that the funds received from the government were for specific performances and must have been directly remitted to the concerned parties, which provided services such as air-travel, ticketing, boarding, transport etc. An objective analysis of the pattern of income and expenditure would reveal that IOA is not dependent on the Central Government largesse or funds; it is autonomous; neither its membership nor its management or office-bearers are subject to government control and importantly, the Central Government has no say in its affairs. Learned counsel points out that the executive or governing council of the IOA or its functionaries do not comprise of any Central Government or public agency representative so far as to remotely suggest that IOA performs any functions of a public character of the kind that would attract provisions of the Act. W.P. 1161/2008 10. The Commonwealth Games Committee, in W.P. 1161/2008 impugns the Office Orders of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, Central Government, dated 01.11.2007 and 28.11.2007, declaring it to be a public authority, as defined under the Act. The Committee ....
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....ittee also relies upon the IOA‟s arguments that the latter is autonomous and is only subjected to control by the International Olympic Committee. 12. The Games Committee claims that it owes its existence to Article 27(C) of the Constitution of the Commonwealth Games Federation, which obliges the IOA to create another body like it. Reference is made to recital D of the host-city contract, which reads as follows: "D. IOA will in accordance with Article 27(C) of the Constitution and with the approval of the CGF delegate the Organization of the Games to the OC which, while working in partnership with the IOA, will also be directly responsible to the CGF."" 13. The Committee also relies upon other Articles or provisions of the Contract, to say that Article 3, which lists the role, responsibility of the respondent, does not authorize it to constitute it and, rather emphasizes that the Central Government has to provide the support to the Committee, and the IOA in the manner provided in the Host City Contract. It is said that Article 3 of the Host City Contract does not place any responsibility on the respondent in terms of establishing, managing, supervising or being accountable ....
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....t, all other stakeholders are provided budgetary support for creating infrastructure through grants. The Games Committee places particular emphasis on the submission that its arrangement is a commercial one, such as where any Company or Society is beneficiary to amounts released that are repayable with interest. For this purpose, it relies upon certain loans issued by the Central Government. It is argued that the Committee had requested for waiver of interest on loan and that the Central Government agreed to these by its decision dated 11.10.2007, stating that interest could be paid only from the surplus, out of the receipts from the Games. 17. The Games Committee submits that the returnable loan is not the only source of funds to enable its functioning but that it has the ability to raise funds from the corporate sector through sponsorship, from banks, by applying for loans etc. The Games Committee Society is not in any manner a Society receiving any financial grant and that the mere assurance held out by the Central Government, would not constitute it as a public authority under the Act. The Committee emphasizes that the involvement of the Central Government and the Govt. of NCT....
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....nation to Section 14 (1) of that Act reads what is meant by a body being "substantially financed" in the following terms:- "Explanation: Where the grant or loan to a body or authority from the Consolidated Fund of India or of any State or of any Union territory having a Legislative Assembly in a financial year is not less than rupees twenty-five lakhs and the amount of such grant or loan is not less than seventy-five percent of the total expenditure of that body or authority, such body or authority shall be, deemed, for the purposes of this sub-section, to be substantially financed by such grants or loans as the case may be." W.P. 1212/2007 20. The school is aggrieved by an order of the CIC, dated 23-1-2007, declaring it to be a public authority. The facts here are that one Ms. Manju Kumar, the respondent in the petition ("information-applicant") sought particulars about funding to the school by various government departments, details of wards of children of parent(s) belonging to Central Government Services (IAS, IFS, IRTS etc.) and of those belonging to Defence Forces, studying (in the school) who were admitted, for the period March 2006, and those children admitted to the sch....
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....ce Officers are on the Board of Management. On the basis of these two submission, the Commission decided that the Sanskriti School did come under the purview of the RTI Act, 5 as a "Public Authority". Hence, it was incumbent on them to set up the infrastructure for supply of information as required under the RTI Act and also to respond to the RTI applications. 10. The Commission, therefore, directed the Principal to reply to the application filed by Smt. Manju S. Kumar by 5th February. 11. The Commission ordered accordingly." 22. The School faults the CIC for not giving it appropriate hearing, or opportunity to present its case. It submits to being controlled by the Civil services Society, which is a private, non-profit making, voluntary organization, registered under the Societies Registration Act. The school has its Executive Committee comprising the wives of the serving Civil Services Officers and subsists fully on the fees received from the students. The day today expenses, salary of the teachers, and all recurring expenditure of the School is met from the tuition fee collected, which is the only income for the School and are not subject to any grants, funds or aid from the ....
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....nstitution of self government. II) The Authority, body or institution under clause (a) may be established or constituted: (i) by or under the Constitution (ii) by a law made by Parliament or State Legislature (iii) by a notification issued or made by the Appropriate Government and if so then it can be a NGO or a body owned controlled or substantially financed by the appropriate government. All writ petitioners submit they are not "an authority, body or institution" constituted by or under the Constitution, or by a law made by Parliament or the State Legislature or by a notification issued or made by any Government, and in any event, do not fall within the definition. 25. Besides the contentions mentioned above, all petitioners urge that facially, none of them fall within the description of "public authority". Considerable emphasis is placed upon the structure of the definition (of that term), for this purpose. Learned senior counsel for the Games Committee and the School point out that generically, the description of the bodies set out in the definition, are governmental or state bodies, constituted by or under a statute, or the Constitution. It is argued that in order that a....
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....iterates the same arguments, as in the case of the Games Committee and says that India is pledged to ensure that its functioning is completely autonomous, and that requiring it to comply with provisions of the Act on an assumption that it is a public authority would result in complete erosion of such autonomy and independence, which would be a blow to the Olympic movement as well as a setback to sports generally, so far as India is concerned. It is emphasized that IOA does not ever depend on government or state funding, as it has independent sources of income, through sponsorships, donations, event fees, etc. That the Central Government assists sports persons selected or endorsed pursuant to the IOA‟s affiliate bodies‟ processes, for which purpose, the amounts are routed through its accounts, does not make its (IOA‟s) functioning dependant on any substantial financing by the Central Government, or public funds. It is also submitted that the concept of "substantial financing" implies that government or public financing or funding should be dominant, or more than 50%, and also be on a recurring basis. Learned Counsel argue that mere allocation of funds for specific ....
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.... seventy thousand) Rs.92,38,303/- (Rupees ninety two lakh thirty eight thousand and three hundred three) [Rs.35,94,375/- paid directly to the IOA and Rs.56,43,928/- to Ms. Balmer Lawrie & Co. towards airfare] 3 Participation of Indian Contingent in Commonwealth Games, 2006 at Melbourne Rs.1,69,00,800/- + Airfare (Rupees one crore sixty nine lakh and eight hundred) Rs.1,10,65,410/- (Rupees one crore ten lakh sixty five thousand four hundred ten only) [Rs. 41,17,629/- released directly to the pensioner and Rs.69,47,781/- released to M/s. Balmer Lawrie & Co. towards air fare] 4 Participation of Indian Contingent in Asian Games, 2006 Rs.3,23,44,768/- + Airfare (Rupees three crore twenty three lakh forty four thousand seven hundred sixty eight) Rs.2,50,83,476/- (Rupees two crore fifty lakh eighty three thousand four hundred and seventy six only) [Rs.1,12,64,839/- paid to the petitioner directly and Rs.1,38,18,637 paid to M/s. Balmer Lawrie and Air India towards airfare]. 5 Participation of Indian Contingent in 4th children Asian Games 2008 at Yakutia (Russia) Rs.53,62,900/- + Air fare as per actual (Rupees fifty three lakh sixty two thousand and nine hundred only) Rs.1,50,7....
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....from the fact that the Government treats it as the sole representative body, for all manner of sports. Therefore, it is a public authority. 31. The Central Government states that it released following grant-in-aid to the petitioner during the last three years 2006-07 to 2008-09 towards participation of Indian contingents in multi-disciplinary international sports events and hosting of the multi- disciplinary international sports events in India. The details are as follows:- S.No. Year Amount 1. 2006-07 Rs.5.38 crore. 2. 2007-08 Rs.2.44 crore. 3. 2008-09 Rs.2.38 crore. It is submitted that in view of the above details of amounts approved and sanctioned, IOA is receiving substantial Central Government financial assistance and thus falls within the definition of Public Authority under Section 2(h) of the Act. 32. The Central Government denies the IOA‟s contention that it provides financial assistance only for limited activities of players for their participation in the international events. It submits that the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports pays for the entire expenditure of travel, boarding and lodging, ceremonial dress and out of pocket allowance etc. of t....
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....y duty of the Committee, to use public funds judiciously and be open for scrutiny at all times. The Central Government states that the Games Committee is an asset-less organization, and the loan which sanctioned by it (the Central Government) is unsecured. It is stated that the Central Government has agreed to provide such a huge loan without any security, and has full right to put forth required conditions to ensure, that these funds are used judiciously and reasonably in accordance with norms of transparency and accountability. This cannot be equated with the functioning of Banks/Statutory Financial entities, which would not agree to provide funds without proper safeguards including guarantors. 34. The Central Government submits that it has further undertaken to bear any shortfall in expenditure and revenue of the Games Committee; it also submits that its role is also to committing for the required institutional arrangements to ensure the success of the Commonwealth Games, and, also planning for and incurring, of enormous expenditure, amounting to thousands of crores of Rupees, on the construction/renovation/up-gradation of sports stadia; up-gradation of civic infrastructure; co....
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....etter dated 27th August, 2008, to the queries sought, for the submission that the total grant-in- aid of Rs.15.94 crores and donations of Rs.22.50 lakh were received by the School between the years 1994-95 to 2001-2002. The land, says the applicant, for the School was allotted by the Ministry of Urban Development, at extremely nominal rates. The said letter also says that:- "Unable to meet its capital investment requirements etc the Civil Services Society/ Sanskriti School approached the Department of Personnel and Training for financial assistance. The Department of Personnel and Training released further grants-in-aid to the Sanskriti School with the approval for the Committee of Secretaries/ Cabinet. An amount of Rs.5.50 crore was released to the School by this Department during 2004-05 in installments. In the subsequent years 2006-07 and 2007 -08, an amount of Rs.2.37 crores was released in installments by the Department." 37. The information applicant also relies on the sanction letter of the Central Board of Excise and Customs, dated 26th April, 1996, where the sum of Rs. 3 crores was sanctioned for the school. The letter also stipulated that: "Seven (7) seats shall be res....
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.... 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." 40. Section 4 obliges public authorities to publish various specified classes of information. The information provider or the concerned agency is, under the Act, obliged to decide the applications, of information seekers, within prescribed time limits. A hierarchy of authorities is created with the CIC, at the apex to decide disputes pertaining to information disclosure. In this Scheme, the Parliament has in its wisdom, visualized certain exemptions. Section 6 enjoins that information disclosure is the norm; in case the public authority on being approached (for information), does not possess the information sought, the Public Information Officer (PIO) has to forward the application, under Section 6(3) to the authority which actually holds the information; in that situation, the latter a....
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....inanced by funds provided directly or indirectly" by (i) the Central Government or the Union Territory administration, the Central Government" likewise, if the funding-substantially, whether directly or indirectly is by the State Government, then the appropriate government is the state government.) The first three categories of this part are fairly clear; those established under the Constitution or any enactment, Parliamentary, or state, are public authorities. The fourth category of institution or body is that set up under notification issued by "the appropriate government". This is if the body, apart from being established by the notification is substantially financed, directly or indirectly by the appropriate government. The fourth category, therefore, presupposes the following: (1) The body or institution to be one of self government; (2) Established by or constituted under a notification, issued by the appropriate government. Facially, the controlling expression here is "self-government" which the petitioners, perhaps correctly interpret, as limiting the reach of the definition. The reference to "appropriate government" and substantial financing, either directly or indirect....
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.... there is no warrant or justification for restricting the applicability of the Act to residential buildings alone merely on the ground that in the opening part of the definition of the word "premises", the words "building or hut" have been used." The principle was endorsed, more recently, in Karnataka Power Transmission Corpn. v. Ashok Iron Works (P) Ltd. (2009) 3 SCC 240: "15. Lord Watson in Dilworth v. Stamps Commr.3 made the following classic statement: (AC pp. 105-06) "... The word „include‟ is very generally used in interpretation clauses in order to enlarge the meaning of words or phrases occurring in the body of the statute; and when it is so used these words or phrases must be construed as comprehending, not only such things as they signify according to their natural import, but also those things which the interpretation clause declares that they shall include. But the word „include‟ is susceptible of another construction, which may become imperative, if the context of the Act is sufficient to shew that it was not merely employed for the purpose of adding to the natural significance of the words or expressions defined. It may be equivalent to &bdq....
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....finition "public authority" and not restrict it to the four categories mentioned in the first part, but to comprehend other bodies or institutions, the next question is whether that intention is coloured by the use of the specific terms, to be read along with the controlling clause "authority...of self government" and "established or constituted by or under" a notification. A facial interpretation would indicate that even the bodies brought in by the extended definition: (i) "....Body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) Non- Government organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government."are to be constituted under, or established by a notification, issued by the appropriate government. If indeed such were the intention, sub-clause (i) is a surplusage, since the body would have to be one of self government, substantially financed, and constituted by a notification, issued by the appropriate government. Secondly - perhaps more importantly, it would be highly anomalous to expect a "non-government organization" to be constituted or established by or under a notification issued by the government. These two internal ....
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....on-government" organization is that it is independent of government control in its affairs, and is not connected with it. Naturally, its existence being as a non-state actor, the question of its establishment or constitution through a government or official notification would not arise. The only issue in its case would be whether it fulfills the "substantial financing" criteria, spelt out in Section 2(h). Non-government organizations could be of any kind; registered societies, co-operative societies, trusts, companies limited by guarantee or other juristic or legal entities, but not established or controlled in their management, or administration by state or public agencies. 47. In view of the above discussion, it has to be concluded that the requirement for an organization, which is not established by statute, or under the Constitution, but is a non- government organization, need not be constituted by or under a notification, due to the extended meaning of the expression "public authority" in terms of Section 2 (h) of the Act. 48. The next issue is the meaning of the expression "substantially financed". This is, in the opinion of this court, crucial for a determination as to whe....
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....4. Having solid worth or value, of real significance; solid, weighty; important, worthwhile.." The term "substantial" denotes something of consequence, and contrary to something that is insignificant or trivial. It implies a matter of some degree of seriousness. The question is whether the term itself suggests, in the context of "substantial financing" a predominant or overwhelming financing. In other words, does "substantial" read with "financing" mean that the major funding should from the relevant source, i.e state or governmental source. 50. It would undoubtedly be tempting to look at previous decisions on what constitutes "public authority" rendered in the context of whether a body is "State" as defined by Article 12 of the Constitution of India, or for its being subject to jurisdiction of the Courts, for judicial review purposes, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. The Petitioners also rely on a few decisions, such as Pradeep Biswas -vs- Institute of Chemical Biology 2002 (5) SCC 111 and Zee Telefilms -vs-Union of India 2005 (4) SCC 649. 51. Article 226 confers wide powers on the High Courts to issue writs to "any person or authority". It can be issued "for the....
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....ates : "To be enforceable by mandamus a public duty does not necessarily have to be one imposed by statute. It may be sufficient for the duty to have been imposed by charter, common law, custom or even contract." (Judicial Review of administrative Act 4th Ed. p.540). We share this view. The judicial control over the fast expanding maze of bodies affecting the rights of the people should not be put into water-tight compartment. It should remain flexible to meet the requirements of variable circumstances. Mandamus is a very wide remedy which must be easily available 'to reach injustice whenever it is found'. Technicalities should not come in the way of granting that relief under Article 226. We, therefore, reject the contention urged for the appellants on the maintainability of the writ petition." 52. More recently, in Binny Ltd. & Anr. v. V.V. Sadasivan, 2005 (6) SCC 657, while deciding when a private body can be said to be performing public function, the Supreme Court observed: "Judicial review is designed to prevent the cases of abuse of power and neglect of duty by public authorities. However, under our Constitution, Article 226 is couched in such a way that a writ of mandamus ....
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....echniques may be deployed, including: rule-making, adjudication (and other forms of dispute resolution); inspection; and licensing. Public functions need not be the exclusive domain of the state. Charities, self-regulatory organizations and other nominally private institutions (such as universities, the Stock Exchange, Lloyd's of London, churches) may in reality also perform some types of public function. As Sir John Donaldson M.R. urged, it is important for the courts to "recognize the realities of executive power" and not allow "their vision to be clouded by the subtlety and sometimes complexity of the way in which it can be exerted". Non-governmental bodies such as these are just as capable of abusing their powers as is government." 53. In G.Bassi Reddy v. International Crops Research Institute and Another, (2003) 4 SCC 225 it was observed that: "It is true that a writ under Article 226 also lies against a person' for "any other purpose". The power of the High Court to issue such a writ to "any person" can only mean the power to issue such a writ to any person to whom, according to well-established principles, a writ lay. That a writ may issue to an appropriate person for the ....
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....an imprint of public interest element in their offers regarding terms and conditions mentioned in the appropriate table inviting the public to enter into contract of life insurance. It is not a pure and simple private law dispute without any insignia of public element. Therefore, we have no hesitation to hold that the writ petition is maintainable to test the validity of the conditions laid in Table 58 terms policy and the party need not be relegated to a civil action....." 39 The decision relied upon by some of the petitioners, i.e Pradeep Biswas was for interpreting if a body or institution is "State" to be bound to by provisions of Part III of the Constitution of India. After reviewing the previous decisions, the seven member bench of the Supreme Court, in that ruling approved the previously established tests to decide if the body or institution was "state" was as follows: (1) One thing is clear that if the entire share capital of the corporation is held by Government, it would go a long way towards indicating that the corporation is an instrumentality or agency of Government. (2) Where the financial assistance of the State is so much as to meet almost entire expenditure of t....
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....words the highlight of the judgments was whether the courts could rule on such actions and policies. The object of the Act, here, is entirely different. It is not about the scope of judicial review, and any relief that courts may be capable of granting. The object of the Act is to ensure that information with bodies which are "public authorities" are open to scrutiny to those seeking such information. One may well ask why this is necessary, when courts exist to guarantee enforcement of fundamental and other rights. The answer to this is not in the remedy available to a citizen against wrong- suffered or perceived- but in the value of transparency in decision making and general information dissemination to the people at large, in our knowledge based, and information driven millennium. As our society progresses, its goals of achieving equality, social justice and furthering democratic principles remain constant - indeed current levels of wealth disparities underline the criticality of achieving those goals for all citizens as an urgent objective. 55. In Ramana Dayaram Shetty v. The International Airport Authority of India & Ors. (1979) 3 SCR 1014, the Supreme Court noticed state per....
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....l for the growth and development of areas like health care, women and child development, viable and sustainable livelihoods for marginalized sections of the society, education, gender justice, tribal welfare, environment preservation, poverty eradication, and so on. The states‟ policies are aimed at realization of social welfare and social justice objectives through a combination of measures, where these bodies and institutions play a vital role. 56. An interesting aside. Even on the issue of judicial control of non-state bodies, the growth of law in India and other parts of the world have been parallel. In Nagle v. Feilden and Others [1966 (2) QB 633], a Jockey Club was entitled to issue licences training horses meant for races. An application for grant of licence was refused, on the ground that the request was by a woman. The action of the Club (a private body) was set aside by the court, which held that it exercised licensing functions, and controlled the profession and, thus, had to be judged and viewed by higher standards. It was held that it could not act arbitrarily. In Greig & Others v. Insole & Others [1978 (3) All ER 449], a Chancery Division considered in great de....
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....generation Community Association Ltd. v. Donoghue [2001] 4 All ER 604, the issue was whether eviction of the defendant by a housing association from one of the premises violated provisions of the Human Rights Act. Lord Woolf CJ upon considering the provisions as well as several previous decisions held that the Association discharged public functions: "The emphasis on public functions reflects the approach adopted in judicial review by the courts and text books since the decision of the Court of Appeal (the judgment of Lloyd LJ) in R v. Panel on Take-overs and Mergers, ex p Datafin plc (Norton Opax plc intervening) [1987] 1 All ER 564, [1987] QB 815. (ii) Tower Hamlets, in transferring its housing stock to Poplar, does not transfer its primary public duties to Poplar. Poplar is no more than the means by which it seeks to perform those duties" These decisions, as well as previous judgments in India, have demonstrated that attempts have been made to account for actions of bodies that broadly perform "public" functions, through judicial review. The court is mindful that such attempts are part of the larger move to make such bodies accountable. In the case of coverage of the Act, howe....
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....trument and more so when such statute or statutory instrument is not dealing with any cognate subject." This construction was followed in State of Kerala -vs- Mathai Verghese 1986 (4) SCC 746. It is therefore, held that this court cannot accept the petitioner‟s contention that the meaning of the term "substantial financing" has to be gathered from the provisions of the CAG Act. 58. In a previous section of this judgment, this court noted the meanings of "substantial" and "financing". To discover the meaning of the expression, since it is undefined, the common parlance test, as well as the contextual setting (of the term), having regard to objects of the Act, are to be examined. There is no yardstick, in this context to determine what is meant by "financing". As discussed earlier, the expression has wide import. It is not inhibited by considerations such as "revenue" or "capital" funding. An organization may be infused with public funds, the character of which is such that the vital functioning of the institution depends on it. It may be also the recipient of special attention, together with funds, which is otherwise unavailable to organizations or institutions of a similar ....
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....5. The learned Counsel for the petitioner has also contended that the Working Committee members of petitioner are the persons from private industries and has relied on list of Working Committee members of the petitioner for 2004-2006 to contend that it is not a public authority. 6. For the purpose of Section 2(h) of Right to Information Act, 2005, what is to be seen is whether the body is owned and controlled or substantially financed by the Government. Whether the funding is for specific programs/projects carried on by the petitioner or funds are given not for any specific program to the petitioner, will not make the petitioner not financed by the Government. The Government can give the funds without specifying as to how the funds are to be utilized and can also specify the manner and the programs on which the funds are to be utilized. Specifying the manner in which the funds are to be utilized rather will show more control of the Government on the petitioner. Specifying the programs on which the funds are to utilized does not negate the substantial funding of the petitioner as is sought to be canvassed by the learned Counsel for the petitioner. I have no hesitation in holding th....
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....t has challenged the above finding not on the quantum of the aid given but on the ground that the grant-in-aid is provided by the Government for specific promotional programmes and projects and not for administrative expenses. 11. In our view, all that the Act requires is that the non-governmental organization ought to be substantially financed by the Government. The dictionary meaning of ' substantial' is instructive and reads as follows:- Oxford English Dictionary Constituting or involving an essential point or feature; essential, material..." 60. This court therefore, concludes that what amounts to "substantial" financing cannot be straight-jacketed into rigid formulae, of universal application. Of necessity, each case would have to be examined on its own facts. That the percentage of funding is not "majority" financing, or that the body is an impermanent one, are not material. Equally, that the institution or organization is not controlled, and is autonomous is irrelevant; indeed, the concept of non-government organization means that it is independent of any manner of government control in its establishment, or management. That the organization does not perform - or pre-dom....
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....at state financing or funding is directly to the sportspersons who are selected by its affiliate associations. 63. The IOA is a registered society. No doubt, there is no state or public involvement in its establishment, or administration. It does not receive grants as is traditionally understood. It is the national face of the Olympic movement in India. Its word determinates the fate of the sport, and sportspersons, who are to attend and participate in Olympic events (not confined to the Olympics, but also embracing other, sport specific international events, and regional meets, etc). It affiliates or recognizes bodies which regulate sports that aspire to participate in Olympic and international events. Its approval is essential for any sport - in India- continuing to be part of the Olympic and international movement. 64. The factual position emerging from the Auditors‟ Reports, which are part of the record, is discussed now. The Report for the year 1995-95 discloses that the grants received/ receivable from the Central Government for that year was Rs. 35,05527/- (out of a total expenditure of Rs. 11,227,034/-) for the previous year it was Rs. 55,10,339 (out of a total expe....
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....pose of air fare, and other such activities of sports persons, who travel for events, is not a material factor. The IOA is the national representative of the country in the IOC; it has the right to give its nod for inclusion of an affiliating body, who, in turn, select and coach sportsmen, emphasizes that it is an Olympic sports regulator in this country, in respect of all international and national level sports. The annual reports placed by it on the record also reveal that though the IOA is autonomous from the Central Government, in its affairs and management, it is not discharging any public functions. On the contrary, the funding by the government consistently is part of its balance sheet, and IOA depends on such amounts to aid and assist travel, transportation of sportsmen and sports managers alike, serves to underline its public, or predominant position. Without such funding, the IOA would perhaps not be able to work effectively. Taking into consideration all these factors, it is held that the IOA is "public authority" under the meaning of that expression under the Act. The Organizing Committee of the Commonwealth Games 2010. 66. The Games Committee, as discussed earlier, c....
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....of the stadia, and other infrastructure, without any user charges. Doubtless, the Central Government has its reasons to extend these benefits to a body which is otherwise private. They may include economic "spin off" that indirectly accrue to the people, as a result of the construction and up-grading of infrastructure, as well as anticipated benefits from tourists who are expected to visit the country before and during the event. Yet, the fact remains that writing off - even on contingent basis- interest on loans, of such scale, and agreeing not to demand any use charges or license fee for infrastructure, as well as agreeing not to take any part of the surplus generated, is not an ordinary loan transaction. Undeniably, the "investment" if one may term that to be so, is not a priority one. In these circumstances, the court concludes that the financing or funding of the Games Committee, concededly a non-governmental organization, is substantial; it is therefore, a public authority, within the meaning of Section 2(h) of the Act. Sanskriti School 69. The school had argued that to being a private institution, in whose governance the Central Government, nor any public agency has any sa....
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....ise, (date 15-7-2008); Department of Personnel and Training (dated 28-8- 2008) and Department of School Education and Literacy, Union Ministry of Human Resource Development show that a total amount of Rs. 23.81 crores was given to the school for cost of construction; the amount included grants for later years, to meet the shortfall in capital expenditure. The letter of the Customs Department, dated 26th April, 1996 whereby the sum of Rs. 3 crores was sanctioned to the school, states that:- "(iv) The Society should abide by Rules 150 & 151 of the Grants-in-aid etc. and loans Rules. These rules require (a) the Accounts of the Institution/ Society to be audited by the C & AG, (b), submission of the certificate of actual utilization of the grants received, by a specific date and (c) laying on the Table of the House, the Annual Reports & Accounts of the Society." The allotment letter issued by the Union Urban Development Ministry, dated 1-5-1995, stipulates, inter alia, as a condition of allotment that: "xviii) There shall be three nominees of the Govt. (not below the rank of Joint Secy. to the Govt. of India) from Ministry of Human Resources Development (Dept. of Education) Ministry....
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....accounts in terms of the rules of the Government applicable to Grants in Aid institutions (insisted upon by the Customs Department); its accounts are to be subject to scrutiny and audit by the CAG. Further, nominees of the Central Government are required to be part of its Managing Committee - mandated by the allotment letter, issued by the Union Urban Affairs Ministry. 74. As discussed earlier, grants by the Government retain their character as public funds, even if given to private organizations, unless it is proven to be part of general public policy of some sort. Here, by all accounts, the grants - to the tune of Rs. 24 crores were given to the school, without any obligation to return it. A truly private school would have been under an obligation to return the amount, with some interest. The conditionality of having to admit children of employees of the Central Government can hardly be characterized as a legitimate public end; it certainly would not muster any permissible classification test under Article 14 of the Constitution. The benefit to the school is recurring; even if a return of 10% (which is far less than a commercial bank‟s lending rate) is assumed for 6 years,....