Constitution Club answerable under RTI: CIC 

CIC has declared Constitution Club as public authority under the Right to Information Act.

New Delhi, Oct 18: Constitution Club which is a "platform for interaction amongst the past and present member of Parliament" will now be answerable to queries under the Right to Information Act, the Central Information Commission has held.

A bench of Information Commissioners Sudhir Bhargava and Sridhar Acharyulu has declared the Club, located on posh Rafi Marg here, as public authority under the Right to Information Act.

A Public Authority defined under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act means any authority or body or institution established or constituted; by or under the Constitution, by any other law made by Parliament or State Legislature, by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government.

It includes any body owned, controlled or substantially financed; non-Government organisation substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government.

Following the directives of the top appellate panel on RTI matters, the Club will have to set up apparatus for processing RTI applications. The directives came on the plea of RTI activist Subhash Agrawal.

"The Division Bench of CIC has declared Constitution Club as public authority under the Right to Information Act," Agrawal said.

PTI