The Hindu: Chennai: Wednesday, June 07, 2017.
A senior
official of the Registration Department, who was directed to pay ₹25,000 as
penalty by the Tamil Nadu Information Commission for suppressing and denying
information to a petitioner under the RTI Act around the demonetisation period
last year, was granted permission to pay the same in 10 equitable instalments.
This was after she claimed she did not have the money due to the withdrawal of
the ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency notes. This curious case came to light recently
when the Registration Department wrote to the Tamil Nadu Information Commission
(TNIC) saying it had granted the official’s request.
In August
last year, the TNIC had penalised the then Sub-Registrar of Ambattur, Chennai,
as she had allowed the registration of a property after receiving a letter from
an advocate specifically mentioning a court order restraining the registering
authority from doing so. She claimed that the court order copy was not attached
by the lawyer.She also claimed that she did not receive some of the petitions
filed under the RTI Act whereas the tapal receipt register had entries
contradicting her stand. The commission imposed a ₹25,000 fine on her. She is
now serving as District Registrar.
Soon after
receiving the Commission’s order, the official wrote to her superiors that she
was unable to remit the fine amount due to demonetisation.
She then
sought permission to pay the penalty in 10 equated monthly instalments.
Disciplinary
action
In May this
year, Registration Department authorities wrote to the TNIC intimating that her
request was being accepted. Meanwhile, the TNIC also directed the
Inspector-General of Registration to initiate disciplinary action against her.
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