SIC directs the DLF Valley Residents Welfare Society to appoint PIO and Appellate Authority for providing information to residents under RTI Act.

Do residents have right to demand information from their ‘Residents Welfare Society’, under the Right to Information Act? The State Information Commissioner, Haryana, Arun Sangwan, on Tuesday, in a case titled: ‘Pardeep Kumar Rapria, Advocate  Vs. DLF Valley Residents Welfare Society, Panchkula’ has held that the ‘DLF Valley Residents Welfare Society, Panchkula’, is a Public Authority and therefore bound to appoint ‘Public Information Officer’ and ‘Appellate Authority’ under the RTI Act, for providing information to the residents.

This is the very crucial and important decision from the point of view of all residents, because residents often feel victimised by the maladministration and financial irregularities in the functioning of their ‘Residents Welfare Societies’. In the absence of the ‘Right to Demand Information’; the residents feel very helpless while facing day to day problems relating to the electricity, security, maintenance, housekeeping, parking etc. Such right to demand information becomes more important when the residents can’t approach the Governmental Authorities for redressal of their grievances, because in private residential societies all amenities are provided by the ‘Residents Welfare Societies’ after charging heavy maintenance charges from residents and the Govt. Authorities have minimum interference in such matters.

            Pardeep Rapria; a resident of DLF Valley, Panchkula; had filed a complaint before the SIC; complaining that being the resident of a residential colony DLF Valley Panchkula, he has right to demand information under the RTI Act, because in terms of the ‘Societies Act, 2012’ ‘every society registered under the Act shall be deemed to be a public office for the purposes of the said Act (RTI Act) and shall be liable to supply the requisite information’. However, he and other residents are unable to submit request for information to the ‘Public Information Officer’ as no such officer has been appointed by the DLF VRWS under the RTI Act. Therefore, Mr. Rapria had requested the SIC to give direction to the DLF VRWS to implement the provisions of the RTI Act; by appointing the Public Information Officer, so that all residents, can aks information relating to their day to day problems. Earlier, Mr. Pardeep Rapria had raised the same question of law before the High Court in case titled: ‘Pardeep Kumar Rapria Vs. State Information Commission and others’, but in view of the fact that DLF VRWS had provided complete information to the Petitioner before the High Court, the question of law involved in the matter was left open by the HC.

            After hearing the arguments of the complainant the State Information Commissioner has directed the DLF VRWS to appoint Public Information Officer and Appellate Authority under the RTI Act, within two weeks of receipt of order. The decision of the SIC will have far reaching impact not only on the rights of the residents of DLF VRWS, but also on the rights of the countless residents of numerous ‘Residents Welfare Societies’ throughout the States of Haryana and Punjab. After all, ‘RIGHT TO INFORMATION’ is the Fundamental Human Right of every human being.