Church Patriarchal Tribunal Not A ‘Public Authority’ Under RTI Act: Bombay High Court

The Archbishop Patriarch of Goa in his capacity as the Patriarchal Tribunal or Church Tribunal is not a “public authority” under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act), the Bombay High Court held.

The decision was passed in an eight years old case regarding information on the Archbishop Patriarch of Goa’s appointment. He adjudicates private law matters of Roman Catholics like annulment of marriage.

Justice MS Sonak reasoned that only a body established or constituted by a law made by the Parliament or the State Legislature would fall under RTI, however the Patriarchal Tribunal couldn’t be called an authority constituted by the parliament or state legislature.

It noted that certain laws like the Canon Law made under the Portugal Parliament for its colonies was granted limited recognition under the Goa, Daman and Diu (Administration) Act, 1962. But this recognition didn’t mean they were laws constituted under the Parliament or State Legislature.

“Merely because some of the decisions and judgments of the Ecclesiastical Courts and [Patriarchal] Tribunals constituted under the Canon Law may have acquired limited recognition under the State Law or the Parliamentary Law, that by itself would not be sufficient to hold that such Ecclesiastical Courts or Tribunals like the Patriarchal Tribunal are authorities or bodies established or constituted by a law made by the Parliament or the State Legislature,” the court observed.

The High Court set aside an order of the Goa State Information Commissioner (GSIC) from December 16, 2014 which held that the Archbishop in his capacity as the Patriarchal Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman is a public authority.

The court noted that Patriarchal Tribunal or Ecclesiastical Courts were set up by the Canon Law. It is a private law that applies only to Roman Catholics. In 1946 Decree No.35461 (law) was passed allowing annulment of marriages.

Orders passed by the Decree law and Patriarchal Tribunal gained legitimacy under Section 5 & 8 of the Goa, Daman and Diu (Administration) Act, 1962. The Sections held that existing laws would continue to remain in force unless they were repealed.

“Merely because Article 19 of the Decree No.35461 gives recognition to orders of annulment made by the Ecclesiastical Courts and Tribunals like the Patriarchal Tribunal, it cannot be concluded that Decree No.35461 establishes or constitutes the Ecclesiastical Courts and Tribunals like the Patriarchal Tribunal.”

The act of giving recognition to the decisions and judgments of the Ecclesiastical Courts and Tribunals like the Patriarchal Tribunal is not the same thing as establishing or constituting the Ecclesiastical Courts or Tribunals like the Patriarchal Tribunal, the court added.

The GSIC had reasoned that the annulment orders made by the Patriarchal Tribunal affect the whole of Christian society in Goa. Therefore, a citizen of Goa was allowed to inspect the register in respect of process of annulment which is kept by Patriarachal Tribunal.

The High Court observed that the GSIC should have examined if the Patriarchal Bishop was a public authority or not.

“The reasoning… that the Patriarchal Bishop gets his authority from Decree No.35461 issued by the Government of Portugal and later continued by the Government of Goa is neither here nor there… it does not squarely address the issue of whether the petitioner, acting as a Patriarchal Tribunal can be said to be an authority or a body established or constituted by a law made by the Parliament or State Legislature.”

Case Title: Archbishop Patriarch Of Goa Rev. Fr. Filipe Neri Ferrao vs State Information Commission | WP - 287/2015

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