Times of India: Gurgaon: Sunday,
May 15, 2016.
The chief
information commissioner of Haryana has imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on
estate officer-II of Huda, Gurgaon for delaying a piece of information sought
under the RTI Act for over 11 months. As per the order, the penalty shall be
recovered from the salary of EO-II Tarun Pawaria in two instalments and
deposited with the commission within two months from the date of order. This is
probably the first time that the CIC has ordered recovery of penalty from the
salary of a government officer. Usually it is paid by the department concerned.
According to
sources, one Hemant Kumar has filed an RTI application on June 18, 2015 seeking
information related to permission given for transfer of plots without the
necessary affidavits.
As per a
circular issued by the Haryana government on January 14, 2014, Huda had to
collect an affidavit from the buyers stating that if at a later date it was
found that the plot was illegal, Huda had the right to take it back.
The circular
was issued in the aftermath of the multiple plot scam of Huda, in which over
325 FIRs had been registered against beneficiaries including 188 defence
personnel, who allegedly got more than one plot in their name, or in the name
of their spouse or children.
"I have
sought information as to how many people were given permission for transfer of
plots without this mandatory affidavit," said Kumar.
When the
information was denied, he filed the first appeal, then second appeal and
finally approached the state information commssion on December 12, 2015.
After a
series of delays and notices, the commission on March 14, 2016 directed Huda to
provide information without delay and directed Pawaria to appear before it. Yet
again the Huda officer failed to provide information and appear before the
commission.
Later,
explaining the delay, estate officer Tarun Pawaria told the commission that the
delay occurred due to his heavy work load.
Further, the
staff remained busy to attend cases pending in various courts. He went on to
say that he has only three assistants against a sanctioned strength of six.
Refusing to
accept the argument, chief information commissioner Naresh Gulati on May 6 said
that it was not only a case of gross negligence, carelessness and arrogance,
but it also amounts to defiance of the commission's order.
The CIC then
imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on the officer.
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