Chandigarh: Punjab and Haryana high court has stayed the order of Punjab State Information Commission in which an inquiry officer was declared a “public authority” under the provisions of the Right to Information Act, 2005.Directing a retired additional district and sessions judge to provide information regarding inquiries conducted by him, Punjab information commission held that the officer was “controlled” by govt.Esh Gupta, advocate for the petitioner, submitted that the petitioner is a retired additional district and sessions judge who, after retirement, has, from time to time, been empanelled by Punjab govt as an inquiry officer for conducting departmental inquiries under the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970.An RTI application dated July 13, 2023, was filed seeking information regarding inquiries pending before or decided by the petitioner during different periods. The petitioner was neither the recipient of the said application nor a party to the first appeal or the second appeal at the stage of its institution. The counsel submitted that Section 2(h) of the RTI Act does not treat every person performing a function pursuant to a govt assignment as a “public authority”.Justice Kirti Singh issued notice to the commission and other respondents for Nov 2 and ordered that the operation of the order dated Aug 3 be stayed till further orders.
