Indian
Express: Coimbatore: Wednesday, 01 July 2015.
State
Information Commissioner Christopher Nelson has directed Deputy Commissioner P
Gandhimathi to trace the files which are reportedly missing from the
Corporation’s office.
The order
relates to an RTI petition made by S Kanagasundaram on May 17, 2013, for which
answers have not been provided so far. The Information Commissioner has also
ordered Gandhimathi to provide the information to the applicant and to take
disciplinary action against two Public Information Officers (PIOs) who failed
to give the answers for two years.
Kanagasundaram
had sought copies of the layout approval and licence given to Nethra Nagar in
Kalappatty and details of the amenities provided there by the Corporation and
TWAD Board. He had also asked whether the 40-feet Road had been handed over to
the Corporation.
“I have been
repeatedly asking the Corporation and the Local Planning Authority for the
layout approvals as the land was encroached. I petitioned them for the
information after Kalapatty was merged with the Corporation. However, officials
of both the Corporation and LPA said they had no files related to Nethra
Nagar,” said Kanagasundaram.
The PIO has
not replied so far to eight queries from Kanagasundaram. The Information
Commissioner has therefore asked Deputy Commissioner Gandhimathi to get a
written explanation from the PIO for not imposing the maximum fine of `25,000
on him under Rule 20(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
He has also
directed Gandhimathi to visit the relevant section and trace the files, under
Section 18(3)(b) of the RTI Act, as the PIO has been evading a reply for two
years. After verifying the files, the information sought by Kanagasundaram
should be provided to him within 30 days.
The
Information Commissioner has also recommended disciplinary action against two
PIOs for providing false information and for not providing information sought
for two years under Rule 20(2) of the RTI Act.
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