2015 (2) TMI 1156

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....rtmental Appellate Authority-cum-Commissioner, Devsthan Department, Rajasthan, Udaipur. Respondent no.3 Kaluram Gurjar submitted an application on 02.12.2011 under the Right to Information Act to the Chief Executive Officer, Sanwaliaji Mandir Mandal, Mandafiya, whereby he demanded certain informations regarding proceedings of the Board meeting of the trust and also the agenda of the meeting. The Chief Executive Officer of the petitioner-trust sent a letter to the Principal Secretary to the Government, Devsthan Department, Rajasthan, Jaipur, on 06.01.2012, seeking guidance whether such information can be provided to respondent no.3 especially when the petitioner-trust is religious institution and no budget is allotted to it by the Central....

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....t the Commissioner, Devsthan Department, Rajasthan, Udaipur, who is the appellate authority, has failed to appreciate that he had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal. The order dated 24.02.2012 passed by the appellate authority was without jurisdiction. Similarly, the respondent no.1 - the Chief Information Commissioner has ignored this aspect of the matter that the Chief Executive officer of the petitioner-trust does not fall within the purview of "public authority" as provided by Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. He is a functionary under the Shri Sanwaliaji Temple Act, 1992. His duties have been prescribed in Sections 20 and 21 of Shri Sanwaliaji Temple Act, 1992. Even the Chief Executive Officer does not come in the pur....

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.... impugned orders is pivoted on the plea that petitioner-trust is not a public authority. One has therefore to look at the definition of "public Authority" to decide this question, which has been given in Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005, according to which, "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. Indisputably, the petitioner-trust is a body constituted under law made by the State Legislature, namely, Shri Sanwaliaji Temple Act, 1992, it has to be thus held as "pu....