TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2019 (9) TMI 1351
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.... AND WHEREAS revelation of information in actual practice is likely to conflict with other public interests including efficient operations of the Governments, optimum use of limited fiscal resources and the preservation of confidentiality of sensitive information; AND WHEREAS it is necessary to harmonise these conflicting interests while preserving the paramountcy of the democratic ideal; ... 3. Under the Act, a public authority is required to maintain records in terms of Chapter II and every citizen has the right to get information from the public authority. 'Public authority' is defined in Section 2(h) of the Act which reads as follows: ... (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 organisation substantially financed, di....
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....d is defined to "include" some other thing, the definition is prima facie extensive. But when both the expressions "means" and "includes" are used, the categories mentioned there would exhaust themselves. The meanings of the expressions "means" and "includes" have been explained by this Court in DDA v. Bhola Nath Sharma (in paras 25 to 28). When such expressions are used, they may afford an exhaustive explanation of the meaning which for the purpose of the Act, must invariably be attached to those words and expressions. 31. Section 2(h) exhausts the categories mentioned therein. The former part of Section 2(h) deals with: (1) an authority or body or institution of self-government established by or under the Constitution, (2) an authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by any other law made by Parliament, (3) an authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by any other law made by the State Legislature, and (4) an authority or body or institution of self-government established or constituted by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government. ....
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....fined so as to comprehend not only such things as they signify according to their natural import but also those things which the Clause declares that they shall include. The words "means and includes", on the other hand, indicate "an exhaustive explanation of the meaning which, for the purposes of the Act, must invariably be attached to these words or expressions". (See: Dilworth v. Commissioner of Stamps (Lord Watson); Mahalakshmi Oil Mills v. State of A.P. The use of the words "means and includes" in Rule 2(b) would, therefore, suggest that the definition of 'college' is intended to be exhaustive and not extensive and would cover only the educational institutions falling in the categories specified in Rule 2(b) and other educational institutions are not comprehended. Insofar as engineering colleges are concerned, their exclusion may be for the reason that the opening and running of the private engineering colleges are controlled through the Board of Technical Education and Training and the Director of Technical Education in accordance with the directions issued by the AICTE from time to time... This judgment was followed in Bharat Coop. Bank (Mumbai) Ltd. v. Coop. Bank....
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....ortion which includes (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; (ii) non-Government organisation substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government. 14. The Section, no doubt, is unartistically worded and therefore, a duty is cast upon us to analyse the Section, find out its true meaning and interpret it in a manner which serves the purpose of the Act. 15. If we analyse Section 2(h) carefully it is obvious that the first part of Section 2(h) relates to authorities, bodies or institutions of self-government established or constituted (a) under the Constitution; (b) by any law of Parliament; (c) by any law of State Legislature or (d) by notification made by the appropriate Government. There is no dispute with regard to Clauses (a) to (c). As far as Clause (d) is concerned it was contended on behalf of the Appellants that unless a notification is issued notifying that an authority, body or institution of self-government is brought within the ambit of the Act, the said Act would not apply. We are not impressed with this argument. The notification contemplated in Clause (d) is a notification relating to the establishment or c....
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....n our jurisprudence. While giving a purposive interpretation, a court is required to place itself in the chair of the Legislature or author of the statute. The provision should be construed in such a manner to ensure that the object of the Act is fulfilled. Obviously, if the language of the Act is clear then the language has to be followed, and the court cannot give its own interpretation. However, if the language admits of two meanings then the court can refer to the Objects and Reasons, and find out the true meaning of the provisions as intended by the authors of the enactment. Justice S.B. Sinha in New India Assurance Company Ltd. v. Nusli Neville Wadia and Anr. (2008) 3 SCC 279 held as follows: 51. ...to interpret a statute in a reasonable manner, the court must place itself in the chair of reasonable legislator/author. So done, the Rules of purposive construction have to be resorted to which would require the construction of the Act in such a manner so as to see that the object of the Act is fulfilled; which in turn would lead the beneficiary under the statutory scheme to fulfil its constitutional obligations as held by the court inter alia in Ashoka Marketing Ltd. ....
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.... have been used for the first time describing an international body which is legally constituted but non-governmental in nature. It is created by natural or legal entities with no participation or representation by the Government. Even NGOs which are funded totally or partially by the Governments essentially maintain the NGO status by excluding Government representations in all their organisations. In some jurisprudence, they are also referred to as civil society organisations. 24. A society which may not be owned or controlled by the Government, may be an NGO but if it is substantially financed directly or indirectly by the government it would fall within the ambit of Sub-clause (ii). 25. That brings us to the second limb of the argument of the Appellants that the colleges/schools are not substantially financed. In this regard, we may again make reference to the judgment in the Thalapplam case (supra) wherein this Court dealing with the issue of substantially financed made the following observations: 47. We often use the expressions "questions of law" and "substantial questions of law" and explain that any question of law affecting the right of parties would not by ....
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.... direct or indirect. To give an example, if a land in a city is given free of cost or on heavy discount to hospitals, educational institutions or such other body, this in itself could also be substantial financing. The very establishment of such an institution, if it is dependent on the largesse of the State in getting the land at a cheap price, would mean that it is substantially financed. Merely because financial contribution of the State comes down during the actual funding, will not by itself mean that the indirect finance given is not to be taken into consideration. The value of the land will have to be evaluated not only on the date of allotment but even on the date when the question arises as to whether the said body or NGO is substantially financed. 27. Whether an NGO or body is substantially financed by the government is a question of fact which has to be determined on the facts of each case. There may be cases where the finance is more than 50% but still may not be called substantially financed. Supposing a small NGO which has a total capital of Rs. 10,000/- gets a grant of Rs. 5,000/- from the Government, though this grant may be 50%, it cannot be termed to be substan....
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.... 33. Another important aspect, as far as the colleges are concerned, is that 95% of the salary of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the College is borne by the State Government. A major portion of the remaining expenses shown by the College is with regard to the hostels, etc. It is teaching which is the essential part of the College and not the hostels or other infrastructure like auditorium, etc. The State has placed on record material to show that now these grants have increased substantially and in the years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, the D.A.V. College, Chandigarh received amounts more than Rs. 15 crores yearly, M.C.M.D.A.V. College, Chandigarh received amounts more than Rs. 10 crores yearly and the D.A.V. Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh received grant of more than Rs. 4 crores yearly. It can be safely said that they are substantially financed by the Government. 34. During the course of hearing, some information was placed on record by the learned Counsel for the Respondents showing how much is the fund being granted to these institutions from the year 2013-14 to 2015-16. As far as these institutions are concerned the payments received are as follows: Institut....