Delay in providing information costs official his salary
In an order that shows how serious an offence the non-compliance of the Act is, the chief information officer of Maharashtra has levied a penalty of nearly Rs 10,000 for delaying the information for 39 days.
By M Padmakshan, TNN |
MUMBAI: A delay in furnishing information sought under the Right to Information Act can cost the concerned official his salary. In an order that shows how serious an offence the non-compliance of the Act is, the chief information officer of Maharashtra has levied a penalty of nearly Rs 10,000 for delaying the information for 39 days.
He has also issued directions for recovering the amount from the salary of the public information officer concerned. Even a well-structured explanation for the delay by the office of the divisional joint registrar (DJR), co-operative societies, citing absence of employees and additional work load related to Assembly questions, was not acceptable by the chief information commissioner.
The latter dubbed them as administrative in nature and hence, not a valid excuse. In this case, the information was sought by Tarun Ghia, a chartered accountant, from the DJR, co-operative societies, regarding orders appointing chartered accountants and certified auditors to audit co-operative societies.
The application was sent on January 25, ’06. On February 8, the DJR wrote to Mr Ghia demanding Rs 600 for copying 1,100 pages of information. Two weeks later, the amount was paid following which Mr Ghia was asked to collect the information on March 3. However, the information was not forthcoming until March 6.
On March 9, Mr Ghia shot off a letter to the DJR saying the information sought was critical in fighting the irregularities in the system and also for making the appointment of auditors transparent. The matter was then taken up for hearing on May 20.
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The divisional joint registrar admitted that Mr Ghia was asked to collect the information on March 3, but because of the other government work and absence of employees, the information could not be provided on that specific date and this delay was promptly informed to Mr Ghia. A large number of appeals and reviews, too, consumed a lot of time. Apart from this, the Assembly session was on and hence, Assembly questions were to be answered. The chief officer looking after the RTI-related issues had gone on sick leave since April 1, it was pointed out.
However, the required information was finally in on April 21. The chief information commissioner observed that it took 84 days for supplying the details. Thirty days are allowed to provide information under the law.
Taking into account the date of intimation to pay Rs 600, the chief information commissioner fixed the length of the delay at 39 days. The chief information officer observed that in spite of paying the required fees, the applicant had suffered a delay of 39 days.
Computers should have been put to use for providing such information, the Commissioner pointed out. After having made these observations, the commissioner ordered that Rs 600 paid by Mr Ghia should be returned to him.
A penalty of Rs 9,750 is levied on the public information officer of the DJR’s office and this amount should be recovered from the latter’s salary.
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