Chandigarh Tribune: Rohtak: Tuesday,
December 06, 2016.
Efforts of a
Rohtak-based RTI activist to get details about the involvement of IAS, HCS, IPS
and HPS officers in corruption cases finally seem to be bearing fruit.
The Haryana
government as well as the State Information Commission had earlier refused to
furnish the information sought by the applicant under the RTI Act. The
applicant then moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which directed the
commission to reconsider the matter.
Following the
High Court’s order, a three-member Bench of the commission observed that “the
disclosure of information relating to corruption cases registered under the
Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, is warranted on account of larger public
interest.”
The Bench,
comprising State Information Commissioners Urvashi Gulati, Major-Gen (retd) JS
Kundu and Yoginder Paul Gupta has directed the SPIOs at the offices of the
Haryana Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to furnish
point-wise certified information, including copies of FIRs registered against
IAS, HCS, IPS and HPS officers under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
Earlier, in a
reply filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Haryana government had
stated that the information relating to the involvement of IAS, HCS, IPS and
HPS officers was “personal information of the officers concerned” and action
against such officers was a “matter between the employer and the employee”.
In an
application submitted under the RTI Act, Subhash, state convener of the Haryana
Soochna Adhikar Manch, had sought information about IAS, HCS, IPS and HPS
officers serving in the state who had faced corruption charges between January
1, 2000, and October 31, 2013.
The Haryana
Government authorities had refused to provide any information sought by the
Rohtak-based RTI organisation in this regard, stating that the information was
personal in nature and exempted under Section 8(1)(j) of the Right To
Information Act.
Subhash then
filed another application to the First Appellate Authority the State Public
Information Officer-cum-Secretary to the Government of Haryana but failed to
get the desired information as the said authority also maintained that the
disclosure of names of corrupt officers and action taken against them was a
matter of privacy between employee and employer.
The RTI
activist then filed a complaint against both government agencies with the State
Information Commission and urged it to take suitable action against them for
shielding corrupt officers in the name of privacy.
However, the
State Information Commission had then upheld the decision of the State Public
Information Officer, maintaining that indulging in corrupt practices was part
of the officials’ personal information and its disclosure would lead to
invasion of privacy.
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