PANJIM: Raj Bhavan has moved the Supreme Court pleading that its petition challenging the order of the Goa Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) that it falls within the ambit of RTI Act be transferred from the High Court of Bombay at Goa to the SC bench.
This was informed to Justice C V Bhadang when Raj Bhavan’s present petition claiming it is not a public authority and does not come within the purview of the RTI came up for hearing on Monday at the HC bench.
Adv Aires Rodrigues, on whose plea CIC had passed the order in October, argued that the transfer petition was a ploy to circumvent the RTI Act which Raj Bhavan had been breaching for the last decade. He submitted that there was no justification why the Governor should shy away from furnishing information as the Governor is maintained and paid by the State exchequer.
The CIC on October 15 had disposed of a petition filed by Rodrigues upholding its earlier orders that Goa Raj Bhavan is a public authority and comes under RTI Act. In its last hearing, the high court had stayed the CIC order directing Raj Bhavan to appoint a Public Information Officer till December 10 the date of the final hearing in the petition challenging the CIC order.
With the latest development, Justice Bhadang adjourned the matter to January 21 awaiting orders of the Supreme Court on the transfer application.
