HC tells 2010 Games organising panel to answer RTI queries

The 2010 Commonwealth Games are about prestige and status of the country and the people have the right to know how its organising committee is gearing up for the event, the Delhi High Court has said while pulling up the panel for its refusal to answer RTI queries. "Commonwealth is round the corner and the people have the right to know how you are organising it," Justice G S Sistani said. "The game is about prestige and status of the country. Even when private players are given such project they would have to be responsible to the citizens," he said when the Committee claimed it was an autonomous body which is not directly answerable to public under the RTI. "If you are getting funds from the government for organising the game then people need to know how you are spending it. We are not concerned about the government but we are concerned about the people," the court observed. The Committee had contended that it was an autonomous body which could not be forced to reveal information under RTI Act, a claim refuted by the Centre in court. "We are not responsible to people. We get loans from the governments so we are responsible to them only and the government should be responsible to the public," senior advocate B P Singh appearing for the committee said while challenging Centre's move to declare it a public authority. "I would be answering the queries only after coming within the ambit of the Act and otherwise I would not be able to devote attention towards organising the game," he said. The organising committee and the Centre have been at loggerheads ever since the government declared it as a public authority, liable to disclose information under the Right to Information Act. "No financial grant is given by the government to meet the whole or entire expenditure of the petitioner society. The money advanced to it are on loan, returnable basis carrying interest. The financial arrangement which it has with the Centre is purely a commercial arrangement," the panel said. "It has not been established or constituted as an institution of self-governance or under the Constitution. It has not been created under the law made either by Parliament or state legislature," it further said. The government, however, justified its action saying that almost the whole budgetary support to the project is provided by it and the Committee cannot take the plea that it is an independent body. "The Centre is providing not only substantial upfront funds (around Rs 1,800 crore) but has also undertaken to meet the shortfall between its revenue and expenditure," the government counsel said.

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