Times
of India: Nagpur: Friday, 01 May 2015.
State Information Commissioner VD Patil recently
imposed a fine of Rs 8,000 on a gramsevak and information officer Lokesh Korde
for failure to provide information sought under Right to Information (RTI) Act
within stipulated period of 30 days.
The fine was calculated at Rs 250 per day as per
Section 20(1) of the Act. As Korde delayed the information by 32 days, he was
told to pay Rs 8,000 to the complainant Rajesh Thakur, president of Mahiticha
Adhikar Hakk Manch.
Thakur had sought information about meetings held,
resolutions passed, decisions taken, their implementation and pending ones of
Sukali (Kalar) village Gram Panchayat under Hingna town. He had also asked for
information on whether special meetings of women had taken place before actual
Gram Sabha meetings and how many had attended them. He sought documents of all
these issues on January 9, 2013.
When Korde failed to provide information, the
complainant filed first appeal before the appellate authority on February 11,
2013. The authority conducted a hearing and directed Korde to provide entire
information to Thakur within 10 days without charging any money for photocopies
and file compliance report. However, till March 14, 2013, Korde failed to file
compliance report that prompted Thakur to lodge a complaint with information
commissioner with a demand to impose cost on the respondent.
Patil, who conducted the hearing, observed that
information officer failed to provide satisfactory reasons for delay in giving
information and imposed the cost.
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