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Decision No. CIC /SG/A/2009/000454/3389

Appeal No. CIC/ SG/A/2009/000454

Relevant Facts emerging from the Appeal:

Appellant : Ms.Maitreyee Rai

A-3/126, Paschim Vihar
New Delhi-110063.

Respondent : The PIO

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Powai, Mumbai-400 076.

RTI application filed on : 22/12/2008

PIO replied : 21/01/2009
First Appeal filed on : 26/01/2009
First Appellate Authority order : 20/02/2009
Second Appeal filed on : 14/03/2009

Detail of required information:-

Kindly provide me the following information related with mood Indigo team & IIT
Mumbai regarding “She’s got the look” contest Mood Indigo 2008 as following quires:
1. After winning whether the three winners of the contest ‘She’s Got the Look”
Mood Indigo 2008 will be eligible for Femina Miss India Contest Semi-Finals
or the Regional round of Femina Miss. India Semifinals.
2. What the eligibility criteria for getting registered in contest “She’s Got the
Look’ Mood Indigo 2008.
3. What were the last date & time of the closure of registration for the contest
‘She’s Got the Look” Mood Indigo 2008.
4. Please kindly provide me with all details, voucher of rules & regulation of the
condition & selection criteria in the contest “She’s Got the Look” Mood
Indigo 2008.
5. Please give me the name of the judges along with their occupation and
relevant qualification & their final comment as well as rating, ranking and
scoring given by them to all the candidates who participated in contest “She’s
Got the Look” Mood Indigo 2008.
6. Give me the list of the all the candidates who got registered for contest “She’s
Got the Look” Mood Indigo 2008 along with their registration number & date
and time of registration.
7. Provide me all the details of Age, height, weight along with other physical
parameter, colleges they are in & their educational qualification of the
registered candidates who got registered for contest “She’s Got the Look”
Mood Indigo 2008.
 8. List of the candidates who were selected, in the order of the different rounds
they appeared in and qualified for the subsequent round of the contest “She’s
Got the Look” Mood Indigo 2008 along with the final comments & ratings
scoring given by the judges to them and reason for their selection or
elimination in different rounds
9. List of the candidates who are eliminated at any stage of the contest “She’s
Got the Look” Mood Indigo 2008 along with the final comments, ratings and
ranking given by the judges to these candidates along with the round they
were eliminated from & reasons for their elimination.
10. What was the criteria & basis of selection as well as eliminations from
different rounds of the contest “She’s Got the Look” Mood Indigo 2008.
11. What was the criteria for selection & elimination in the walk in interview
round of the contest “She’s Got the Look” Mood Indigo 2008.
12. What was the criteria for selection & elimination in the grand final of the
contest “She’s Got the Look” Mood Indigo 2008.
13. Name of the candidates who will be selected finally in the contest “She got the
Look” Mood Indigo 2008 along with age, height, weight other physical
parameter, their college, educational qualifications and reason for their
selection by the judges.
14. Those who were selected & eliminated in the contest “She’s Got the Look”
Mood Inidgo 2008, whether they were intimated about their result or not, if
yes what was the mode of giving the information & at what date & time. And
if not what the reasons behind not information them their result.

The PIO replied.

With reference to your application dated 22.10.2008 under RTI Act, 2005. Your
request was sent to the organizer of Mood Indigo. Based on their reply it is informed that
Mood Indigo is financed by corporate sponsorship and not ‘substantially financed’ by
funds provided either by the Central Govt. or the Union territory administration, or by
the State Govt. Therefore, Mood Indigo is not a Public Authority under RTI Act, 2005.
However, in the interest of transparency, the relevant information is being updated by the
organizers on the website of Mood Indigo www.moodi.org/missinida.

The First Appellate Authority ordered:

The PIO has rightly responded to the applicant, stating that Mood Indigo is not a
Public Authority under RTI Act, 2005. The PIO is, thus, correct in dealing with the
application.

Relevant Facts emerging during Hearing on 1st May, 2009.

The following were present

Appellant : Ms.Maitreyee Rai
Respondent : Ms. Indu Saxena PIO
The appellant stated that IIT has complete control over the Mood Indigo festival, whereas
the PIO states that the festival is corporate funded and organised only by students and
hence, no records are maintained by IIT. The Commission asked the PIO to send a
certificate from the Director, IIT Bombay giving details of control and the financing of
Mood Indigo festival. IIT Bombay was asked to send the Director’s certificate to the
appellant and the Commission by 10 May 2009 and the appellant was asked to file her
comments on the statement of the IIT Bombay Director with the Commission before 20
May 2009.

The Commission has received the statements from the Director, IIT Bombay as well as
from the appellant.

Decision announced on 22 May 2009:

The Right to Information Act, 2005 in Section 2(h) elucidates that information pertaining
to an authority should be provided to the citizen when it is owned, controlled or
substantially financed by the State.
The Respondent is undoubtedly a Public Authority as defined by the Act. It appears
however that its role in conducting the annual event ‘Mood Indigo’ is restricted. The
event is run entirely on corporate funding and is not funded even substantially by the
College.
According to the submission of the Director, IIT Bombay, “The organizers of Mood
Indigo are a group of students of IIT Bombay, who are elected by student community and
do not have any Professor/Officer of IIT Bombay controlling their affairs. The Mood
Indigo Committee consists of 2 overall coordinators and 22 core group members, all of
whom are students.”

He further states that “IIT Bombay does not have any authority to stop or to make
payment to any party. All agreements and any other documents correspondence, etc. are
signed by the student co-ordinators and their team. IIT Bombay does not exercise any
control on sponsorship, programmes and related issues.” The concerned Committee,
comprising of students, takes all decisions pertaining to payments and funding. All
agreements in this matter are signed by student coordinators.

From the Director's submission therefore, it appears that the records are not held by the
public authority. It is also true that students festivals of this nature are often not
controlled by the Institutes and records are not maintained by the Institutions.

The Appellant has stated in her submissions that since the event is organized within IIT
Bombay, the college exercises some degree of control over the event. Also, according to
her, the facilities provided by the college for this event suggests that they have some role
in organizing this event.

However, as per the submission of the Director, IIT Bombay, the fact that the name of the
college is associated with the event in question is not indicative of its control over the
management of the event. It is further made clear from his submission that the facilities
of the college such as housing and auditorium are provided on a payment basis.

The appeal is dismissed.

Shailesh Gandhi
Information Commissioner
22 May 2009

(In any correspondence on this decision, mentioned the complete decision number.)