New Delhi: Ruling that private educational institutions -- whether government funded or not -- could not be run on the whims and fancies of private bodies,the Central Information Commission (CIC) said issues related to their management and regulation came under the ambit of the Right to Information Act.
A full bench of the CIC said in its order,"The issues relating to management and regulation of schools responsible for promotion of education are so important for development that it cannot be left at whims and caprices of private bodies,whether funded or not by the government." The commission added that records should be made available to the state government's education department and in case the school fails to comply,proceedings to de-recognise it must be initiated.
The order came in response to an RTI query by a teacher Bindu Khanna asking for her service records from Pinnacle School,Panchsheel Enclave.Khanna had filed an RTI application with the education directorate seeking to know her service records.But despite orders of the directorate to provide the details,the school maintained that it was a private body and hence the Act was not applicable to it.The school cited sections of the law which exempt the disclosure of personal information. The commission said various clauses of Delhi School Education Rules,1973,say that "all records" of a private recog-nised school are open to inspection by any officer authorised by director or the appropriate authority at any time. The records provided to education department by the schools can be accessed by an RTI applicant,it said. "Information which a public authority is entitled to access,under any law,from private body,is 'information' as defined under Section 2(f) of the RTI Act and has to be furnished,"the Commission said in its order,rejecting the school's claims.
Quoting a High Court order in this regad, bench said the term 'third party' included not only the public authority but also any private body or person other than the citizen making request for the information. The bench held that orders passed by the education directorate directing the third party to provide complete information to the appellant were perfectly in compliance with the provisions of the Act.
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Allow compounding of cognizable offences, says SC
New Delhi: To lessen the huge pendency of cases and encourage conciliation among warring litigants, Supreme Court has urged the Centre and Law Commission to examine whether non-compoundable offences under IPC, including those under Section 498A,could be closed after the parties settled. At present,cases in which a husband or his relative is booked under Section 498A for subjecting a woman to cruelty or anyone charged under Section 326 for causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapon or means fall under the noncompoundable category and courts are barred from closing the cases even after the opposing parties have reached an amicable settlement.
Looking at similar cases before the court and in particular a case under Section 326 where the parties had arrived at an amicable settlement,a Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and T S Thakur said,There are several offences under the IPC that are currently non-compoundable.These include offences punishable under Sections 498A,326 etc.Some such offences can be made compoundable by introducing a suitable amendment in the statute. It added, We are of opinion that the Law Commission of India could examine whether a suitable proposal can be sent to the Union government in this regard.Any such step would not only relieve the courts of the burden of deciding cases in which the aggrieved parties have themselves arrived at a settlement,but may also encourage the process of reconciliation between them.We,accordingly,request the lawpanel and the government of India to examine all these aspects and take such steps as may be considered feasible.
The court asked SC secretary general to send a copy of the order to the Law Commission and the law secretary. The Bench requested law secretary to place this order before law minister Veerappa Moily.
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(source-toi)
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