Info panel issues bailable warrant against engineer

Times of India: Gurgaon: Monday, 09 February 2015.

The state information commission has issued a bailable warrant against a superintending engineer of the Haryana irrigation department for repeatedly failing to appear before it and not responding to an RTI plea seeking the layout plan of the Jharsa embankment near Rajiv Chowk.

R C Singhal, who was the special public information officer (SPIO) in Gurgaon in the department of irrigation and is now posted in Faridabad, has now been directed to appear before the commission personally in the next hearing on February 16. The engineer had allegedly ignored the commission's notice sent eight months ago.

"It will be the last opportunity for him to appear before the commission, otherwise, it will be presumed that he has nothing to say in his defense and an ex-parte decision will be taken on merits," said the state information commissioner Hemant Atri.

The plea, filed by city-based RTI activist Aseem Takyar, had alleged that Singhal only provided a map of the embankment, although he had sought the layout plan in the revenue records through an RTI application filed on July 6, 2013.

"I had asked for the layout plan, so I could find out which areas have been encroached upon. On the face of it, several encroachments - including a super specialty hospital, sports complex and commercial units - have come up over the embankment. But, I have failed to procure the official documents to prove it in the past one and a half years," said Takyar.

Green activists said the embankment, which was built in the early 1970s to prevent floods in Gurgaon, is important for the city's environment. "The Jharsa bandh worked as a water channel for Sultanpur Lake but during urbanization in past three decades, it has been encroached by buildings and now Sultanpur Lake doesn't get recharged by natural water," said Amina Shervani, an environmentalist.

The SIC had noted in a hearing on April 2 of last year, that the delay was caused by Singhal. "There is some delay in supplying the information. The superintending engineer is responsible for the delay," the order had said.

During the hearing, the engineer had sent a representative on his behalf, but the commission had insisted that he should appear personally. "The respondent has never bothered to be present before the commission. He has sent his representative without giving reasons for his exemption/ non-appearance," the commission had said.