Times of India: New Delhi: Tuesday, August 22, 2017.
Questions
over whether Lt Col P S Purohit received his salary while being named an
accused in the Malegoan blast case have reached the CIC.
In an RTI
plea filed by co accused Major (retd) Ramesh Upadhyay, the central information
commission has ruled that details be given to the applicant.
Although
Upadhyay, who filed his RTI from the Yerwada central prison in June 2014, had
asked for the salary details of not only Lt Col Purohit but also that of Lt Gen
Dalbir Singh Suhag, Lt Gen Ravi Dastane and Col R K Srivastava, his curiosity
about a fellow accused raised many eyebrows. Upadhyay is one of the founders of
Abhinav Bharat, the organisation that Lt Col Purohit is alleged to have been a
part of.
Upadhyay was
lodged in Yerwada central prison and was reportedly in a cell close to
Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, with whom he reportedly established a rapport. It
is also interesting that Col Srivastava was in charge of the preliminary
investigation in the Army against Lt Col Purohit. The other two were top level
Army officers involved in controversies over seniority within the forces.
Upadhyay
approached the CIC following the refusal of the public information officer of
the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (PCDA) to share the information.
In his order, information commissioner Divya Prakash Sinha has noted that
"every public authority is obliged under section 4(1)(b)(x) of the RTI
Act, to publish the monthly remuneration received by each of its officers and
employees, including the system of compensation as provided in its
regulations."
Directing the
PCDA to provide Upadhyay with the remuneration (pay and allowances) for the
period of May 2014 of Suhag, Srivastava and Dastane, the commission has noted
that Purohit's salary may not be provided "as similar information"
for Purohit has already been furnished.
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