Times of India: Bangalore:
Friday, September 27, 2013.
The Karnataka
Information Commission (KIC) has slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on the Bangalore
Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) for not responding to a query under the Right To
Information (RTI) Act and failing to appear before the panel for hearing.
The query was
related to the distance between the steps of Vidhana Soudha and the Ambedkar
statue in its lawns.
The proposal
to shift the statue to facilitate work on the underground Metro station had
ruffled the feathers of dalit activists. The matter even made it to the high
court. The statue has since been relocated.
RTI activist
T Narasimha Murthy had raised the query on November 28, 2013. "BMRC
officials failed to provide an answer. The matter was brought to the
commission's notice in 2012 and despite summoning BMRC officials, they didn't
turn up either for the hearing or for arguments," the commission said in
its order.
"The
fine should be deducted from the salary for former public relations officer UA
Vasanth Rao. Beginning October 2013, Rs 5,000 should be deducted from his
salary for five months. The sum should be remitted to the government," the
order said.
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