'Divested cos have to provide info'

[karira]

As reported by Viju B of TNN in timesofindia.indiatimes.com on 04 July 2009:
'Divested cos have to provide info' - Mumbai - Cities - The Times of India

'Divested cos have to provide info'


MUMBAI: This landmark order will pave way for greater transparency in public sector companies which have divested their stake in a substantial
manner and over 50% of its equity are with private players.

The State Information Commission (SIC), in its order, has said SICOM Ltd, which had divested its stake up to 51% of its equity shareholding in 1994, be deemed as a public authority.

The case came up for hearing after RTI applicant Jagdish J Doshi filed a compliant with the SIC after SICOM said they did not fall under the category of a public authority.

SICOM's contention was that it was not a public authority under the Companies Act as the firm had divested 51% stake. "The company was privatised in 1994. As per Section 617 of the Companies Act, it does not fall under the purview of a government company,'' SICOM had stated.

SICOM also said it was not a commercial organisation and could be defined a public authority under Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act. "The issue was also considered by the board of directors of SICOM in its meeting. No financial assistance is given by the government to meet its expenditure and SICOM has to raise all its resources for its business from the market,'' the SICOM official argued.

The SIC, after hearing the case, said the issue was clearly stated under section 2(h) of RTI Act. "The Act says `public authority' covers not only all organisations owned or controlled by the government but also that are financed substantially, directly or indirectly, by funds provided by the appropriate government,'' the SIC order said.

State information commissioner Suresh Joshi, while passing the order, said the government of Maharashtra still had 49% equity in shares and appointed seven out of the 15 directors, including key officials like chairman and managing director.

"The financial involvement (of the government) should be such that it would enable it to make an impact in decision-taking and operations. This can be achieved through the chairman and the MD and five other board members who are government nominees,'' the SIC order said.

Over 10L RTI applications in last 4 years

State information commissioner Suresh Joshi said the number of RTI applications in the state had crossed the 10-lakh mark in the last four years. The RTI movement in the state has been a phenomenal success. The number of RTI queries filed in 2005-'06 was 1.23 lakh and jumped to 3.16 lakh the next year. "Around 4.16 lakh queries were filed last year and 1.60 lakh queries were filed by May-end,'' Joshi said.