The Karnataka High Court has ruled that the Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) Ltd is a public authority and thereby bound to dispense information under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
In an order dated August 14, Justice Mohan Shantanagoudar dismissed MSEZ’s plea and upheld Karnataka Information Commission’s order that the company should respond to RTI applications. Drawing on the Bangalore International Airport Limited vs. Karnataka Information Commission and others 2010 order, the court said that “the petitioner company Mangalore SEZ Limited, Mangalore can be classified as a 'public authority' and Non-Government Organisation which is substantially financed directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government.”
In MSEZ’s case, the funds would come from Government-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, ONGC Mangalore Petro Chemicals Limited and Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), who hold 49.56 per cent of the stake in the project.
B.S. Karunkar, a resident of Suratkal, had lodged a complaint with the Karnataka Information Commission in September 2010 after having been denied by MSEZ the information he had requested for. A notice was sent to MSEZ, following which a penalty of Rs. 5,000 was levied on A.G. Pai, the then the Chief Executive Officer of MSEZ.
The MSEZ approached the High Court against the KIC’s view claiming that it was a private company.
Land acquisition has been a problem for MSEZ, and consequently, had been facing a number of RTI enquiries about the steps taken to rehabilitate displaced families, usage of land area, among others. The order further states that the company “is bound to furnish the information as sought for by the private respondents.”
