Kochi airport: Cial comes under RTI Act purview, rules Kerala HC

Time of India

2 days ago

Kochi: A high court bench of Justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and V M Syam Kumar has upheld a single bench order that declared that Cochin International Airport Ltd (Cial) is a public authority and is therefore amenable to Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
HC delivered the verdict while dismissing a set of appeals filed by Cial against the single bench order of 2022. The court also imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on Cial, to be paid to the Kerala high court advocates' association within 10 days.
The cost was imposed in view of the court's findings that the writ petitions and appeals were filed by Cial managing director without the approval of the board of directors, apparently with the intent of concealing important decisions and actions from public shareholders.
HC observed that even the CM, Cial's chairman, was not consulted before initiating the litigation. It held that the MD had no authority to file the cases without the board's approval.
Strongly deprecating this practice, HC directed the chief secretary, who is a Cial director, to take appropriate action and ensure that such incidents are not repeated.
The case arose after a series of RTI applications seeking various details, including the minutes of board meetings, were rejected by Cial.
This prompted appeals to the state chief information commissioner, who ruled that Cial is a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act and is bound to provide the requested information. The Cial MD then moved HC against the commissioner's order. However, a single bench dismissed the petitions in 2022 and directed the public information officer of Cial to provide the requested information in accordance with law.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The MD's appeals contended that Cial does not fall under the definition of public authority under Section 2(h)(d)(i) of RTI Act, arguing that it is neither owned, controlled, nor substantially financed by the govt. However, HC held that both Kochi International Airport Society, Cial's predecessor, and Cial itself had been substantially financed by the Kerala and central govts from their inception, and that all conditions for being a public authority were duly satisfied.
Upholding the state CIC's 2019 order, HC reaffirmed that Cial is obligated to provide information under the RTI Act. HC directed Cial to take all necessary steps within 15 days to become fully compliant with the provisions of the RTI Act and file a compliance report. The chief secretary has also been directed to file an action taken report before HC registry within 15 days.