OPINION: Transparency for public funds

The position in the RTI Act that private organisations and NGOs which are substantially funded by government are public authorities and are covered by the RTI Act has been very clear since the beginning of the law. Almost all adjudicatory bodies were accepting this. The private organisations in this case appeared to have represented a very convoluted meaning of the words of the law which has been rightly struck down by the SC. The key principle of RTI is that wherever public money is involved, citizens have the right to know.

—Shailesh Gandhi, former central information commissioner