The Kerala High Court has ruled that the Registrar of Co-operative Societies must provide information requested under the Right to Information (RTI) Act if such information is accessible to them and does not fall under the exemptions specified in Section 8(1) of the Act.
Case Background
The matter arose from an RTI application seeking access to a construction agreement and minutes of a meeting from the Registrar of Co-operative Societies. The State Information Commission directed the State Public Information Officer and Deputy Registrar to furnish the information, which was challenged by the Joint Registrar of Co-operative Societies before the High Court. Justice D. K. Singh examined the provisions of the Co-operative Societies Act, noting that the Registrar holds broad supervisory powers over societies and can access the requested documents unless explicitly exempted under Section 8(1) of the RTI Act.
Court Observations
The Court clarified: “The question which needs to be considered is whether the Registrar of the Co-operative Society would have access to the documents/information of the Petitioner-Society, which have been sought for by the fourth respondent. If the documents and information are accessible to the Registrar of the Co-operative Society and are not exempted from disclosure under Section 8 of the Right to Information Act, the Registrar can collect such information from the Society, which he is otherwise empowered to collect under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act and furnish that information to the applicant.”
Arguments by Parties
The petitioner argued that any information accessed by the Joint Registrar during an inquiry into co-operative societies was obtained in a fiduciary capacity rather than as a public authority. It was further contended that the documents requested by the applicant were not accessible to the Joint Registrar or Registrar in the absence of an ongoing inquiry against the co-operative society, and therefore did not fall within the scope of the RTI Act. Additionally, it was asserted that Section 8(1) of the RTI Act exempts the disclosure of information unrelated to public activity or interest, as in this case. The petitioner maintained that access to the construction agreement, a private contract, would contravene Section 8(1) of the Act by violating trade secrecy or competitive integrity.
Conversely, the applicant argued that the requested information was sought from a notified public authority that, under the Kerala Co-operative Societies Act and Rules, has access to the data. It was submitted that information held by or accessible to a public authority is subject to disclosure under the RTI Act. The applicant further contended that the requested information did not fall under Section 8(1) of the Act since the work contract had already been awarded, rendering it neither competitively sensitive nor confidential in nature
Court’s Reasoning and Ruling
The Court emphasized the overriding effect of the RTI Act under Section 22, stating that transparency and accountability are fundamental to the Act's purpose: “The Right to Information Act has been enacted to ensure that citizens have the right to have information and access to information under the control of public authorities with the aim of promoting transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority.” Citing judgments such as Thalappalam Service Co-operative Bank Limited v. State of Kerala (2013) and Kunnathunad Taluk Primary Co-operative Agricultural and Rural Development Bank Limited, the Court reiterated that the Registrar of Co-operative Societies is a public authority under the RTI Act and is obligated to provide accessible information unless explicitly exempted.
In this case, the Court found that the requested information did not fall within the exemptions of Section 8(1) and was accessible to the Registrar. Accordingly, the Court upheld the State Information Commission’s order and dismissed the writ petition.
This judgment underscores the principle that the RTI Act overrides conflicting statutory provisions unless specific exemptions apply, reinforcing citizens' statutory right to access information held by public authorities.
Case Title: The Muppathadam Service Co-Operative Bank Ltd. V The State Chief Information Commissioner
