Srinagar: April 24: In a landmark ruling, the State Information Commission has brought the Jammu and Kashmir Bank within the ambit of the Right To Information Act by declaring it a Public Authority.
The full bench of the Commission – the chief information commissioner GR Sufi and information commissioners SK Sharma and Nazir Ahmad – issued the order in Jammu on deciding a number of complaints and petitions by RTI activists, reports from the winter capital said.
After a six-month long battle over technical and legal matters related to the J and K Bank, the Commission asked it to comply with the provisions of the J and K Right To Information Act 2009, they said.
During proceedings before the bench that lasted for more than 6 months, both the parties, i.e. the appellants (RTI Activist Raman Sharma, advocate Vilakshan Singh and others) and the respondent, J & K Bank represented by its council advocate ZA Shah presented their arguments and cited various judgments of different High Courts and the Apex court in support of their claim.
Senior advocate Zaffar Shah appearing for the bank had interpreted section 2(f) of the JK RTI Act 2009 and stressed for not declaring the bank as a ‘PUBLIC AUTHORITY ‘ , he argued that the bank does not fall under section 2(f) of the act and hence cannot be declared as a P.A, whereas Vilakshan Singh, complainant as well as advocate, countered the stand of the Bank with various High Court judgments regarding the criteria fixed for declaring anybody or institute as P.A he also read out the preamble of the act “Whereas, democracy requires an informed citizenry. On Feb 23 this year after full arguments from both sides the commission reserved its order for final judgment.
RTI activist Raman Sharma, who is also a complainant in the case, termed the order as a Big Step towards transparency. Giving more details about his RTI plea, he said that on June 13, 2011, he has submitted an RTI application with the bank which was turned down by the bank stating “J&K Bank is not 'Public Authority 'as defined by Right to Information Act and hence, cannot consider request. "Non-Judicial Stamp Paper No. 565187 for Rs. 50 enclosed by you with your application is returned herewith in original.” Raman Sharma said he had sought details about the total number of appointments made in the during the period between May/2009 to May 2011 along with the name, educational qualification and designations of the selected candidates. His query had also asked about the detail of money spent by the bank under corporate social responsibility. He told that he had also asked about the names of defaulters and their guarantors who have default amount of more than Rs. 50.00 Lac.
Another complainant and activist/advocate Vilakshan Singh also showed satisfaction over the decision of the commission and while elaborating details about his RTI plea he told that his application dated 29/Sept/2010 was also turned down by the law department of the Bank. Citing the reason that the bank is not a Public Authority as defined under the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act. In his plea, advocate Vilakshan had sought details about the names of the advocates, experiences, and the criteria for their empanelment by the Jammu and Kashmir bank . Vilakshan said, the judgment of the commission will pave way for many other RTI applicants whose petitions were earlier rejected by the bank. He also complimented and credited the commission for its bold decision.
hope serving to empower motive is really fulfilled now.............
ReplyDeleteA BIG STEP INDEED AND IT WILL OPEN ROUTES FOR JKPSC AND OTHER ORGANISATIONS......CONGRATULATIONS.
ReplyDeleteA BIG LEAP INDEED IN YOUR EFFORTS ...AND ALSO A BREAKTHROUGH TOWARD JKPSC NOW...
ReplyDelete