Times
of India: Aurangabad: Monday, 16 February 2015.
The
Maharashtra government has fixed the responsibility of collecting fines imposed
on public information officers (PIOs) on the accounts officers or heads of
public institutions concerned. The dues will be recovered in three installments
from the salaries of the PIOs or as per orders issued by the State Information
Commission (SIC).
Right to
Information (RTI) activists as well as the SIC itself, which imposes the fines,
have for long been saying that the lack of initiative in recovering the dues
has cast serious doubts on the transparency factor in the RTI Act.
The General
Administration Department (GAD) of the state government, through a government
resolution issued on Friday, officially announced the recovery of fines from
PIOs.
According to
the eighth annual report of the SIC, fines totalling Rs 56.11 lakh had been
slapped on PIOs in as many as 501 cases in 2013. In 2012, the fines amounted to
Rs 38.08 lakh (342 cases), while it was Rs 44.42 lakh in 2011 (459 cases).
Section 20(1)
of the RTI Act gives penal provisions to the SIC to act against PIOs who refuse
to accept an application for information or for not furnishing information
within the time specified, among other reasons. The SIC is empowered to impose
a penalty of Rs 250 per day till the application is received or information is
furnished. The total penalty, however, cannot exceed Rs 25,000.
The GAD,
while observing that some public institutions do not give the required response
especially when it comes to recovery of penalties imposed on PIOs, has pointed
out that the SIC holds the same powers as those vested in a civil court while
trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
Quoting
relevant provisions of The Maharashtra Treasury Rules 1968, the GAD has stated
that the respective heads of department have jurisdiction over the release and
deduction of salaries of employees of public institutions. It has further
referred to provisions of The Bombay Financial Rules 1959, which relate to
recovery or seizure of salaries of employees in keeping with judicial orders.
Speaking to
TOI on Sunday, former central information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said it
was "better late than never" that the Maharashtra government has
decided to crack the whip on errant PIOs. "It makes no sense if the SIC
levies some penalty on a PIO under the RTI Act and there is no measure at all
to check whether the money is being recovered or not. The SIC was losing its
reputation as the implementation of its orders was in doubt. The PIOs too were
easily getting away with dereliction of duty," he said.
RTI activist
Vijay Kumbhar also lauded the move to recover dues from PIOs. "The GAD has
invoked provisions of The Maharashtra Treasury Rules 1968 and The Bombay
Financial Rules 1959 while framing the rules for recovery of dues from PIOs. It
will, therefore, now be binding upon the accounts officers and heads of public
institutions to collect dues from PIOs," he said, adding that the decision
will have a far-reaching effect on the implementation of the RTI Act.
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