JOIN US The Karnataka Information Commission has brought the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) under the ambit of Right to Information (RTI) Act-2005, days after bringing the Bangalore Golf Club under the purview of the said law.
State Information Commissioner Dr Shekhar D Sajjanar held that the KSCA was a public authority as defined under Section 2(h) (d) (ii) of the RTI Act.
The commissioner said, “By exercising powers under Section 25 (5) of the RTI Act, this Commission calls upon the KSCA, which is a public authority, to have a Public Information Officer and First Appellate Authority appointed within 15 days from the date of this order.”
The Commission has asked the Government of Karnataka, which has substantially financed it, to see that the PIO and First Appellate Authority are appointed to the KSCA.
The KIC directive came following an RTI application to the KSCA by S Umapathi, resident of Kirloskar Layout on Hesaraghatta Main Road. The applicant wanted to know whether the BCI placed information in material form and reasons for not putting details of the KIC in public domain. He also asked the KSCA to furnish information in the compact disk.
When he did not get information within the stipulated time, he approached the KIC with a complaint.
The Information Commissioner took note of the fact that the KSCA had taken on lease 16 acres and 32 guntas of land on MG Road for 99 years from the State government. The KSCA regularly pays an annual rent of Rs 33,033 as agreed in the lease deed dated March 11, 1970.
The Commissioner also observed that the Government of Karnataka had not only leased to the KSCA an extent of 16 acres and 32 guntas of land situated in the heart of the City for a nominal rent, but also treated Rs 32,033 out of Rs 33,033, the ground rent fixed by the Public Works Department, as grant-in-aid, that too for a period of 99 years.