Tuesday, June 30, 2015

No info on SIC orders challenged in court

DNA: Mumbai: Tuesday, June 30, 2015.
In what came as a surprise to an RTI applicant, the public information officer at the state information commission (SIC) stated that he did not have any information on the orders of the commission that are challenged in the court.
The application was filed by Anil Galgali. In his application, Galgali had sought information on the number of commission orders that are challenged in the court. The public information officer stated that no such compilation was done and hence no informaton could be provided.
The applicant filed a first appeal and during the hearing provided proof of commission giving him details of orders challenged in the court till 2013.
B Gawade, secretary of the commission, in his order stated that since it was available earlier, it should be compiled and given to the activist.
"It's disappointing to see that the information is not compiled. Obviously, they have to file petitions in courts. Also, since there is no panel representing SIC, many times cases tend to have weak defence in the courts. I have written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the chief commission to first upload all this information on the website, make it public, and also appoint lawyers to defend the commission's stand," said Galgali.