The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that information relating to private cooperative societies, if accessible by a public authority under law, can be obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005.

Dismissing a plea by Gurugram’s Saraswati Kunj Cooperative Housing Building Society, the court upheld the Haryana State Information Commission’s directive to share such information, holding that registrars of cooperative societies, being public authorities with statutory oversight, are duty-bound to provide it subject to RTI exemptions.

The bench of justice Kuldeep Tiwari upheld the commission’s decision observing that information relating to private cooperative societies, to the extent accessible by a public authority under law, falls within the ambit of the RTI Act.

The society had sought to quash the commission’s orders of February 28 and May 3, 2024, contending that as a private cooperative society registered under the Haryana Cooperative Societies Act, 1984, it was not amenable to the RTI Act.

Taking note of Supreme Court and Delhi high court precedents, the high court held that to the extent law permits, registrar can gather information from a society, on which he has supervisory or administrative control under the Cooperatives Societies Act.

It further said that the registrar of cooperative societies, being a public authority with statutory oversight, is duty-bound to provide such information subject to exemptions under Section 8 of the RTI Act (list of exempted categories from providing information under RTI law). “…proviso attached to Section 8 of the RTI Act, assumes significance which stipulates that the information which cannot be denied to the Parliament or state legislature shall not be denied to any person..,” the court noted.

The court found no perversity or illegality in the order and said that in view of this it dissuades from interfering with the commission’s order.