Private universities are `public authority', come under RTI Act: Gujarat Information Commission

NEW DELHI: Private universities come under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act as they are `public authority', the Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has ruled. In its order dated June 16, the commission asked the state government to issue directions to ensure that all the universities established under the Gujarat Private Universities Act, 2009, implement the provisions of the RTI Act.

The order came in response to an appeal filed by Prof Devdutt Rana against Vadodara-based Parul University. Rana, who teaches at a college in Ahmedabad, approached the GIC last year after the varsity management refused to provide certain information he had sought under the RTI Act. Parul University took the stand that it is a private university which does not receive any funds from the government, and hence does not fall in the category of 'public authority'.

Rana argued that it is a public authority as defined under the RTI Act, because it came into existence through an Act passed by the Gujarat Assembly. The commission, presided over by chief information commissioner Dr Subhash Soni, upheld the argument citing section 2 of the RTI Act, which says that any entity created through an Act of Parliament or state legislature is a 'public authority'.

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UGC guidelines affirm RTI coverage

Further, Dr Soni also noted that as per the University Grant Commission's website, private varsities fall under the ambit of the RTI Act. "All universities and colleges established by law made by Parliament or by state legislature or by notification by the appropriate government...shall come within the meaning of a 'Public Authority' under the RTI Act," the order stated, citing the UGC guidelines.

The commission also cited a communication issued in 2020 by the state Education Department on the same lines. The commission asked the registrar of Parul University "to take necessary steps to implement the provisions of the RTI Act, appoint Public Information Officers and First Appellate Authorities, and put their details on the website." The GIC also directed the varsity to provide information about its off-campus centres to the applicant.

It was one of the several pieces of information sought by Rana. "The Commission recommends to the State government to issue necessary orders for the implementation of the RTI Act by all the universities established under the Gujarat Private Universities Act, 2009," the order said.