RAID LABAN COLLEGE SOCIETY Vs. STATE OF MEGHALAYA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition is directed against the Notification bearing No. EDN. 113/2007/39, dated 17-5-2007 issued by the Commissioner and Secretary to the Govt. of Meghalaya, Education Department (Respondent No. 2) declaring that Raid Laban College, Laban, Shillong is one of the public authorities under the Right to Information Act, 2005 ("the RTI Act").

(2.) The facts giving rise to this writ petition are that Raid Laban College, Laban, Shillong ("the College" for short) was established in the year 1984 and that the Petitioner No. 1 is a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 bearing registration No. SR/RLCLS-187/84 of 1984 while the Petitioner No. 2 is the governing body of the College represented by its Secretary. It is the case of the Petitioners that the College is a private college, governed by the constitution and Byelaw of the societies and was established with funds procured from various private sources and at the time of establishment of the college, no Government contribution in any form whatsoever was made available to the College. With the initiatives and contributions of the members of the College and with the endless efforts and hard work of the governing body of the College which is entrusted with the overall management of the same, the College within a short span of time became one of the elite educational institutions in the State of Meghalaya. The College is permanently affiliated to NEHU vide Notification dated 16-7-2003 issued by the Vice Chancellor, NEHU. The University Grants Commission, New Delhi vide their letter dated 7-10-2004 has also included the College in the list of colleges prepared under Section 2(0 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1936 under the head "Non-Government Colleges" teaching upto Bachelor Degree making it eligible to receive Central assistance in terms of the Rules framed under Section 12(B) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. The University Grants Commission "UGC" has also recognized the College as Non-Government College. The governing body of the College is solely entrusted with the management of the college and appoints its teaching staffs and other administrative staffs, for which it never obtained any approval from the Govt. of Meghalaya. In other words, according to the Petitioners, the Raid Laban College is not under the administrative control of the Education Department of the State of Meghalaya.

(3.) It is also the case of the Petitioners that the Directorate of Public Instruction, Meghalaya vide order dated 31-3-1987 sanctioned an Ad hoc Grant-in-Aid for the pay and D. A. for certain numbers of full time staff: no other grant or aid was received by the College from the Govt. of Meghalaya. The College has been bearing all the other expenses of the institution starting from infrastructure costs, administrative expenses including staff salaries. It is admitted by the Petitioners that the Govt. of Meghalaya also sanctioned some non-recurring ad hoc grants to the College from time to time, the last of which was received by it on 15-12-2006. According to the Petitioners, the total strength of the staff of the College including teaching and non-teaching staff is 84 and the Govt. of Meghalaya by sanctioning the Ad hoc Grant-in-Aid till 2006 was meeting the expenditure relating to the pay and D. A. of only 33 staff members, which was also being stopped on 1-1-2007 and the remaining payment used to be made by the College from its own sources. It is claimed by the Petitioners that the College has been duly maintaining its account till now. It is contended by the Petitioners that mere granting of Grant-in-Aid by the Govt. of Meghalaya towards pay and D. A. for certain number of full time staff by no means take away the status of the College as a purely private institution nor does it empowers the Govt. of Meghalaya to exercise control over the administration and management of the College. It is also the contention of the Petitioners that the mere fact that ad hoc Grant-in-Aid used to be sanctioned by the Govt. of Meghalaya to the College cannot have the effect of it being "substantially financed" by the Govt. of Meghalaya and as such the Govt. of Meghalaya cannot be said to have any control, not to speak of pervasive control, over the administration of the College or in the matter of appointment of teaching and non teaching staff against sanctioned posts. It is contended by the Petitioners that this Court by its judgment and Order dated 23-4-2008 passed in W. P. (C) No. 8 (SH) 2008 has observed that the college is not a deficit college governed by the provisions of the Management Rules and is, on the contrary, a non-Government college or a private institution receiving an ad hoc Grant-in-Aid from time to time from the Govt. which can also withdraw the same for which no legitimate grievance can be made by the college. In the appeal filed by the State Respondents being W. A. No. 8 (SH) of 2008, the Division Bench of this Court, while dismissing the appeal, has observed that the undisputed fact is that the Raid Laban College is a Private College and non-Government College. The Petitioners received one application dated 23-5-2008 from one Mr. K.F. Rngad addressed to the Public information Officer, Raid Laban College seeking therein information/documents as mentioned in the application under the provision of the RTI Act. The Petitioners contested the application by contending that the Act is not applicable to the College inasmuch as it is not a public authority as defined under the provision of the RTI Act, and has no obligation to furnish the information sought for in the said application. This apparently led the said applicant to lodge a complaint with the Chief Information Commissioner, Meghalaya, who on receipt of the complaint registered the same as MIC/Appeal/57/2008/ 36 and issued Notice to the Petitioners. The Petitioners reiterated before the Chief Information Commissioner that as the College is not a public authority under the RTI Act, it was not obliged to furnish the information. However, the State Chief Information Commissioner vide the order dated 6-11-2008 noted to the effect that "vide letter No. EDN. 113/2007/38 dated 10th May, 2007. Education Department, Govt. of Meghalaya while furnishing the list of public authorities, DA As, PI Os, API Os in the State had included the name of the Raid Laban College as one of the public authorities under the Department. This has also been repeated in the Notification No. EDN. 113/2007/39 dated 17th May, 2007". In the same order, the Commission further directed the Respondent No. 2 to furnish necessary evidence through an affidavit that the College is a public authority under the Education Department.