S. Muralidhar, J.

The Question

1. A feature common to the three petitioners - the Krishak Bharti Co-operative Ltd. (KRIBHCO) [the petitioner in W.P. (C) No. 6129/2007], the National Cooperative Consumer Federation of India Ltd. (NCCF) [the petitioner in W.P. (C) No. 7770/2008] and the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) [the petitioner in W.P.(C) No. 7787/2008] - is that each is a society deemed to be registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002 ('MSCS Act'). The question for consideration is whether each petitioner is a "public authority" within the meaning of Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act)? The Central Information Commission (CIC) has, by an order dated 9th September 2008 (in the case of NAFED and NCCF) and by an order dated 10th July 2007 (in the case of KRIBHCO) answered the question in the affirmative. The CIC's aforementioned orders have been challenged in these petitions.

The Context

2. Before proceeding to notice the facts in each of the petitions, it is necessary to interpret the words "public authority" under Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act given the context of the RTI Act and in relation to the MSC