TNN, Oct 25, 2010
CUDDALORE: At a time when judges of the Supreme Court and high courts are coming forward to disclose their wealth, the police department in Tamil Nadu has refused to furnish details about the assets of three IPS officers in response to a query filed under the Right to Information Act.
The details sought "are highly confidential in nature, and not open to public scrutiny unless the information (is) sought by the officers concerned themselves. Therefore, it couldn`t be provided to any private persons on any purpose", said the IGP (Establishment) in the office of the Director General of Police, who is the public information officer (PIO) under RTI. He was replying to a query by K Irisappan from Puducherry, seeking copies of annual property returns (APRs) submitted by three IPS officers. The department not only refused to part with details on assets, it also declined to disclose information pertaining to service records and educational qualifications of the officials.
Irisappan, however, argues that information regarding civil servants wasn`t exempt from disclosure. He cites a Punjab state information commission order passed in December 2009, declaring that information regarding assets of Punjab IAS officers was not exempt from disclosure under the RTI Act, as annual property returns submitted by government employees were in the public domain. It had further observed that ``the decision should be considered a step to contain corruption in government offices, since such disclosures may reveal assets disproportionate to known sources of income."
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