2 min readMar 18, 2026 01:28 PM ISTThe Karnataka High Court directed Deepa Malini Devi to seek Mysore Palace Board financial records through an RTI application. (File Photo)The Karnataka High Court has directed Deepa Malini Devi, the granddaughter of the late Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar—the last ruling Maharaja of Mysore—to file an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act to get financial and other information about the Mysore Palace Board, which manages the heritage monument.In her petition, Devi claimed that after the enactment of the Mysore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act, 1998, the Mysore Palace is being managed as a public trust and heritage monument. However, the management was opaque, and there was no financial transparency in the functioning of the Mysore Palace Board, she alleged.Devi had filed a petition in the high court, seeking various documents, including the service record of respondent No.2, T S Subramanya, who is working as a deputy director for the Mysore Palace Board. She also sought certified copies of all major contracts, procurements or agreements entered into by the Board during the term of the present deputy director and complete financial records and accounts regarding the revenue and expenditure of the trust.In a February 20 order, a single-judge bench of the high court disposed of Devi’s petition, granting her the liberty to file an RTI application. Challenging the order of the single judge, she filed an appeal.Also Read | Know Your City: How a freedom fighter played a crucial role in developing Mekhri Circle in BengaluruIn the appeal, the counsel for the appellant, Aravind Reddy H, failed to point to any statute other than the RTI Act under which the appellant could be provided the copies of the documents sought.A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Poonacha, in its order dated March 4, said, “The learned single judge has rightly disposed of the petition by reserving the petitioner, the right to apply under the Right to Information Act, 2005. Needless to state that if such an application is made, the same would be considered in accordance with law.” © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd