The Tribune: Rohtak: Wednesday,
April 12, 2017.
State
Information Commissioner Major-Gen JS Kundu (retd) has issued bailable warrants
against the State Public Information Officer (SPIO) of the Horticulture
Department. He has directed the Deputy Commissioner, Panchkula, to serve the
warrants on the SPIO to ensure his presence before the commission.
The warrants come in the wake of the SPIO’s
reported failure to provide information sought under the Right to Information
(RTI) Act by a Rohtak-based activist and respond to a show cause notice issued
by the State Information Commission (SIC).
Subhash, state coordinator of the Haryana
Soochna Adhikar Manch, had sought information on 10 points regarding the
management of poly-houses in the state from the SPIO at the Directorate of
Horticulture, Haryana.
The Department of Posts returned the RTI
application as the office of the SPIO, Horticulture, refused to accept it.
Thereafter, Subhash made a complaint to the SIC under Section 18 (2) of the RTI
Act, 2005.
The matter came up for hearing before the
commission on the ground that the SPIO had failed to furnish the requisite
information within the stipulated time. He also failed to appear before the
commission for hearing in the case on February 9, 2017, without any intimation.
Moreover, he did not file his comments on the notice issued by the commission
on January 13, 2017.
The commission had issued a show cause notice
to the SPIO on February 22 and directed him to reply to it by March 15. He was
also directed to be personally present at the next hearing in the case on March
30.
However, the SPIO did not file his reply to
the show cause notice nor did he appear before the commission on March 30,
following which bailable warrants were issued.
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