CIC: Disclosure of Power of Attorney is Now Mandatory

[bpagrawal]

CIC: Disclosure of Power of Attorney is Now Mandatory

In a bid to arrest property frauds, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has made it mandatory for the public authorities to disclose the copies of general power of attorney (GPA) in larger public interest.
GPA is a public document because the grantee has to use it to convince any prospective purchaser. There is no public interest in withholding it, the CIC observed.
Information Commissioner Madabhushi Sridhar passed these orders on September 2 this year while disposing of an appeal by RTI applicant Manish Bansal. Accordingly, the Registration Act 1908 can no more empower the registration department to hide certain documents from public.
As for facts of the case, Manish through his RTI application dated April 25, 2013, sought copies of documents regarding the GPAs relating to a property at Laxmi Nagar, executed by Krishan Lal in favour of Urmila Gupta etc.
The PIO concerned has given reply by his letter dated May 6 last year. The appellant made first appeal before the FAA, who, by his order dated July 17 upheld the information furnished by the PIO and disposed of the appeal, saying that the appellant cannot be issued the documents as the department of Delhi Archives is only custodian of records.
http://www.lawweb.in/2014/11/cic-disclosure-of-power-of-attorney-is.html