HC ruling on CM fund

[karira]

As reported on in.news.yahoo.com on 3 July 2008:
HC ruling on CM fund - Yahoo! India News

HC ruling on CM fund


In a significant verdict, the Lucknow Bench of the high court here has held that queries regarding disbursement and utilisation of Chief Minister's Discretionary Fund can be made under the Right to Information Act (RTI) by any member of the public on lawful demand. The bench, comprising Justices Pradeep Kant and S.N. Shukla, passed the above orders while dismissing a writ petition filed by the Public Information Officer (PIO) of the state challenging three different orders of the State Information Commission (SIC) directing him (PIO) to answer queries in this regard.


While upholding the orders of the SIC, the bench observed that the CM's Discretionary Fund being a public fund was very much amenable to the jurisdiction under the RTI Act. It was contended on behalf of the petitioner that under section 8 of the RTI Act, the PIO had a right to refuse to divulge information regarding the beneficiaries of the CM's Discretionary Fund since it was violative of beneficiaries' right of privacy.


The writ petition was accordingly dismissed by the bench being devoid of merits.