Chitkara Institutions covered under RTI Act

The respondent said Chitkara Educational Trust runs Chitkara Institutions affiliated to Punjab Technical University,Jalandhar,and the Trust was a self-financed institution that received no grant-in-aid from any government agency. Asserting that Chitkara Educational Trust was granted permission to run Chitkara University in December 2010,the respondent said when the RTI plea was filed they were “purely non-statutory private unaided institution”.

However,the complainant argued that the institution was constituted by a law made by the state legislature,therefore covered under the RTI Act.

After hearing both the parties,the CIC accepted the plea of the respondent that when the application was filed,Chitkara Institutions were run by a private trust and thus not a public authority. Therefore,the respondent had no obligation to furnish information. However,it is admitted by the respondent that the Punjab State Legislature had passed a new law conferring statutory status of a university on it. Legally,therefore,Chitkara Institutions now operate under a duly enacted law,enacted on December 7,2010,which will become operational in June 2011. Therefore,Chitkara Institutions will now be deemed to have been established or created by law,” RI Singh said.