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2010 Supreme(Gau) 583
IN THE HIGH COURT OF GAUHATI (SHILLONG BENCH)
Tinlianthang Vaiphei, J.
Raid Laban College Society and Anr. – Appellants
Vs.
State of Meghalaya and Anr. – Respondent
W.P. (C) No. 332 (SH) of 2008
Decided On: 13.08.2010
For Appellant/Petitioner/Plaintiff: G.N. Sahewala, Sr. Adv., D. Senapati and S. Jindal, Advs.
For Respondents/Defendant: N.D. Chullai, Sr. G.A.
Headnote:
Right to Information Act, 2005 - Sections 2(h), 5(1), 5(2), 18 and19(1) - Societies Registration Act, 1860 - University Grants Commission Act, 1936 - Education - Governing body of the College represented by its Secretary - 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 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 - Held, Body controlled or substantially financed or a non-Government organization can be construed to be a public authority if a notification is issued or an order made to that effect by the appropriate Government - As there is no dispute between the parties that the College has not been receiving any grant-in-aid from the State-Respondents with effect, the question of the College being substantially financed by the State-Respondents does not arise - Court has no alternative but to hold that the College is neither controlled nor substantially financed by the State-Respondents so as bring it within the ambit of the term public authority" under Section Act - Resultantly, the impugned notification declaring the College as public authority cannot be sustainable in law - Impugned notification to the extent that it includes the College as one of the public authorities, is hereby quashed, Parties are, however, directed to bear their respective costs - Petition allowed.
T. Vaiphei, J.
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 Petitio
