Sutlej Club, Ludhiana, was covered under the RTI Act

Chandigarh Full bench of the Punjab State Information Commission, comprising CIC RI Singh and SICs Lt Gen PK Grover (Retd) and Surinder Singh, ruled on Thursday that Sutlej Club, Ludhiana, was covered under the RTI Act. After perusal of various records, the bench came to the conclusion that the club was not “a purely private body”, as it was substantially financed by the government, besides the fact that Ludhiana DC was its ex officio president. The decision was taken while hearing a case of retired IFS officer SS Chana, who had alleged that he was refused information regarding establishment, organisation structure and accounts of the club. The respondent said it was a private body and not covered under the RTI Act.

“The club is self-financed through application fee and subscription charges collected from its members. It is neither owned nor controlled by the state government,” the respondent submitted. The complainant, however, contended that the club was substantially financed by the state, as the prime land on which it stood was owned by the government.

Accordingly, the commission verified the ownership of the land through the office of the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner, and it emerged that the land was owned by the government. The bench said it has also come on record that the state provided certain funds for the construction of the club.

“This leaves no doubt that there is substantial financial assistance by the state. The facts that the land upon which the club has been constructed belongs to the government and no rent or lease has been paid by it also point to substantial financial assistance by the state. Funding may be direct or indirect. It may consist of contribution to revenue expenditure or providing infrastructural facilities. In fact, the cost of providing prime land would be much more than its revenue expenditure. This militates strongly against the club being a purely private body,” the bench ruled.

Besides, as per the rules, the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana is the president of the club in his ex officio capacity. The bench directed the club to provide information to the complainant. The case would come up for confirmation of compliance on September 21.