A Supreme Court order has closed all arguments against giving information under an RTI which was submitted by a developer to the public authority. The SC, while dismissing the appeal filed by Ferani Hotels Pvt Ltd has upheld the order passed by Maharashtra State Information Commission; the order had directed that such information be provided to Nusli Wadia, chairman of the Wadia group, who had sought the same through an RTI.
The SC order was passed on September 27,2018, by a bench consisting of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and recently came to be known at the commission. "The order now becomes a case law," said Ajit Kumar Jain, state information commissioner (Brihanmumbai bench).
Nusli Neville Wadia had filed an RTI application seeking details about plans submitted by Ferani Hotels Pvt Ltd for the development of three plots in Malad. Late Shri E F Dinshaw was the owner of these three plots at Malad and Wadia was the sole administrator of the estate. Wadia had entered into a development agreement in 1995 with Ferani that was coupled with the Power of Attorney. However, due to some dispute, both the agreements were terminated by Wadia, in May 2008. Wadia then filed an RTI application with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Wadia had sought details of certified copies of submitted PR cards, certified copies of all plans, amendments, layouts, all development schemes from time to time by Ferani or his architect, and reports submitted to municipal commissioner for approvals under RTI. The public information officer (PIO) turned down his application after Ferani objected. Ferani stated that giving such information would compromise its competitiveness, affect copyright, would infringe trade rights and stated that sharing information did not serve any public interest and that it was exempted under various sections of RTI Act.
When the matter was heard at the state information commission (SIC), it ruled that the information be provided to Wadia as details sought were "public records". Upholding the SIC order, the SC bench in its order said: "It cannot be said that it has no relation to public activity or interest, or that it is unwarranted, or there is an invasion of privacy. These are documents filed before public authorites, required to be put in public domain by the provisions of Maharashtra Act (Maharashtra Ownership Flats Regulation of Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer Act, 1963) and the RERA (Real Estate Regulation and Development Act, 2016) and involves public element of making builders accountable to one and all." The SC order went on to state that such information be put in public domain as per RERA Act provisions too.
The SIC order was earlier upheld by the High Court, which also said that if such information is considered to be secretive, then public interest would be sacrificed. The SC while ordering called the appeal by Ferani a "legal misadventure" and imposed a penalty of Rs 2.5 lakh to be given to Wadia.