On January 23, the Supreme Court's division bench, which is co-chaired by Justices Dinesh Maheshwari and Hrishikesh Roy, declined to intervene in a Kerala High Court order (Division Bench) staying the impact of a Single Bench order that determined the Cochin International Airport Ltd. is a public authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005.

“Having heard learned counsel for the petitioner and having perused the material placed on record, we do not find any reason to entertain this petition under Article 136 of the Constitution of India. The petition seeking special leave to appeal is, accordingly, dismissed. All pending applications also stand disposed of”, the Division Bench ordered.

The editor of Green Kerala News, MR Ajayan, has filed a petition, which a bench was now considering. 
The Kerala High Court decided in December of last year that CIAL is a public authority under the RTI Act while supporting a State Information Commission ruling. 

An SLP was filed before a Division Bench of the High Court to contest this. On December 30 of last year, the bench issued an interim order that halted the Single Judge's decision. CIAL had argued in its appeal that it was not a public authority as defined under the RTI Act because it was not substantially sponsored by the State government. 

Before the Apex Court, a plea was submitted contesting this temporary ruling.

Case Title: MR Ajayan vs CIAL
Citation: SLP (C) No. 1373/2023

Appearance of the Advocates:-

For Petitioner(s)

Mr. Geetha Duddupudi, Adv.
Mr. D. K. Devesh, AOR
Mr. Harsh Singh Rawat, Adv.
Ms. Snehal U. Kanzarkar, Adv.

For Respondent(s)

Mr. Ritin Rai, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Benny P. Thomas, Adv.
Ms. Aditi Rao, Adv.
Mr. Abel Tom Benny, Adv.
Mr. Prakash Ranjan Nayak, AOR