Bengaluru's Century Club Built On Land Granted By Maharaja Of Mysore, Is Public Authority Under RTI Act: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has held that Bengaluru's Century Club, which is situated abutting Cubbon Park and is built on land granted by the then Maharaja of Mysore in 1913, is public authority under the Right To Information Act and is thus bound to furnish information. Dismissing the Club's petition against an order directing it to provide information under the Act, Justice Suraj Govindaraj in his order said: “The grant of land on which petitioner club is situated would amount to a substantial contribution of financing by the State, made by the then Maharaja of Mysore, for making the RTI Act applicable to the petitioner club.” The court said the Club in its "entirety is situated" on the land granted by the then Maharaja of Mysore. It observed that the activities of the club are recreational for its members in terms of establishing sports and leisure activities, as also by establishing entertainment and other activities for the benefit of its members.It said that all these benefits provided by the Club can "only be enjoyed by its members by visiting the premises of the club which is situated in the aforesaid 7.5 acres of land". "Thus, without this land, the very existence of the petitioner club would fall into doubt inasmuch as no activities of the petitioner club could be carried out without this land being available to the petitioner,” the court said. "In that view of the matter, it is clearly and categorically established that there is a substantial contribution made by the State. i.e., the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore, through the Maharaja of Mysore, who granted 7.5 acres of land to the petitioner-club in 1913, thereby making the provisions of the RTI Act applicable. I do not therefore, find any infirmity in the order passed by respondent No. 2, the Karnataka Information Commission," the high court said. BackgroundAdvocate S Umapathy had submitted an application to the Club, under Subsection (1) of Section 6 of the Right to Information Act seeking a certified copy of the list of records duly catalogued and indexed as required to be maintained under clause (a) of Subsection (1) of Section 4 and as certified under clause (b) of Subsection (1) of Section 4.However, the club in its 19.11.2012 letter informed Umapathy that the Club is not a public authority and not bound to provide information. Umapthy then filed a complaint before the Karnataka Information Commission on 26.06.2013. After hearing the parties the Commission vide its order dated 14.03.2018, directed the information to be furnished. The Club challenging the order argued that merely because there is a grant of land made by the Maharaja of Mysore, the same would not amount to substantial financing by the State as regards the activities of the petitioner.As the members of the petitioner club make payment of the due amounts, the club is run by such payments, and as such, there is no dependency of the petitioner club on any funding. Insofar as land is concerned, it was said that the land was granted to the petitioner club by the then Maharaja of Mysore, who was also the Patron in-Chief of the petitioner club. The contribution made by the Patron-in-Chief cannot be said to be a grant of a government largesse. Umapathy, opposed the petition submitting that the land is being utilized by the club and without the land, the club could not be in existence, therefore, the very existence of the club - being on the basis of the land which had been granted, there is substantial funding made by the then Maharaja of Mysore in the year 1913 before the independence of the country and before the formation of the State of Karnataka. The Maharaja, being the Head of the Princely State, any grant made is on behalf of the government. FindingsThe bench noted that it is not in dispute that, as regards the said land, there is no payment which has been made by the petitioner-club to the Maharaja of Mysore or the Kingdom of Mysore. It said, “The land grant in question is for land that belongs to the Kingdom of Mysore, and no specific document has been placed on record to indicate that the said land belonged personally to the Maharaja of Mysore. The grant made in the name of the Maharaja of Mysore would also indicate that it is not the personal property of the Maharaja of Mysore.”Rejecting the submission of petitioner that the club is run on the basis of contribution made by its members it said, “The fact still remains that without the land, the activities of the petitioner club could not be run.” It observed that if the valuation of the land of 7.5 acres as on today is taken into consideration, the same would run into hundreds of crores if not thousands; the contribution made by the members of the petitioners-club, as membership fees or any other head of account, pales into insignificance.Upholding the state commission's order the high court dismissed the Club's plea. Case Title: Century Club AND S Umapathy & ANRCounsel for Petitioner: Advocate M.S. RAJENDRAR1: S UMAPATHY,...

Bengaluru's Century Club Built On Land Granted By Maharaja Of Mysore, Is Public Authority Under RTI Act: Karnataka High Court

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