Times of India: Chandigarh: Sunday,
May 01, 2016.
A junior
official of the Haryana forest department slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on his
senior an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer for not providing information
under the RTI Act. However, realizing how peculiar the situation was, he
withdrew the order two days later.
This prompted
Haryana state information commissioner Hemant Atri to express surprise over the
state of affairs in the department. The commission, on Friday, also decided to
issue a show cause notice to the IFS officer Jitender Ahlawat, posted as
divisional forest officer at Karnal, asking him to explain why penalty up to Rs
25,000 should not be imposed on him.
The series of
events started about six months back when Karnal-based lawyer Parvesh Mehta
sought information regarding encroachment on the protected forest land near
National Highway-1 (NH-1) in the town. Dissatisfied with the response of the
forest officials, Mehta in February approached the commission. His appeal was
forwarded to the Rohtak's conservator of forests, who was the first appellate
authority (FAA) in the case.
Meanwhile, on
April 20, a superintendent posted in the office of conservator of forests
Rajbir Singh imposed a penalty of Rs 5,000 on Ahlawat, who is state public
information officer (SPIO) in the case, for terming the application a
questionnaire. In an official communication, Singh, who is also assistant state
public information officer (ASPIO) into the matter, asked Ahlawat to provide
complete information to the applicant.
Though, when
Singh realized the mistake, he wrote another letter to the SPIO to inform him
that previous letter has been withdrawn urging him to take appropriate action.
During the
hearing on Friday, the commission noted the "severe discrepancy"
wherein the ASPIO penalized the SPIO without any powers. "Neither the
superintendent is a competent authority nor the FAA (first appellate authority)
can impose penalty, which is sole prerogative of the commission under the RTI
Act," said Atri in the order.
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