DNA: Mumbai: Thursday, November 13, 2014.
The state
information commission (SIC) has awarded a compensation of a whopping Rs5 lakh
to a right to information applicant. The compensation is to be paid by
Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to
Ambernath resident, Nitin Desai for the harassment meted out to him while
providing information to him. The amount is highest ever compensation given to
an individual in the state as of now.
Earlier a
compensation of rupees one lakh was given to a charitable trust by state chief
information commission. In 2013, it became the highest ever compensation to be
given till date. The Rs5 lakh compensation order was delivered on October 30 by
state information commissioner (Konkan bench), Thanksi Thekkekara. The
compensation was awarded after the applicant was first denied information and
then given some misleading information.
Desai had
sought information on transformer installed on his land. Around 300 sq ft of
land was taken up to install the transformer and it could not be used. Desai
sought information about the permission. The information was sought in 2012.
However, MSEDCL's public information officer (PIO) did not provide any
information. During the hearing, the PIO stated that verbal permission was
taken from the applicant before using the land. The commissioner stated, as per
rules, provision for verbal permission did not exist at all.
During the
hearing, a show cause notice was served on the PIO asking why a compensation of
Rs20 lakh should not be provided to the applicant. During the hearing, the
commission was of the view that Rs5 lakh compensation should be provided by
public authority from its expenses and a report of the same should be given to
the commission by December 1, 2014. A fine of Rs25,000 was also imposed on the
PIO.
When dna
contacted Desai, he was not available for comment. "Awarding compensation
is okay. But at the end of the day it is the tax payers money which will be
used for paying it. The amount should be recovered from the employee concerned.
Otherwise it will be recovered from us and will not affect him," said
Vivek Velankar, an RTI activist.
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