The Hans India: Warangal: Wednesday,
August 03, 2016.
The State
Information Commission (SIC) has directed Warangal Commissioner of Police G
Sudheer Babu to pay a compensation of Rs 2000 to an appellant in connection
with an RTI petition filed at Atmakur police station.
The
compensation was asked to pay for causing inconvenience to the petitioner and
for failing to provide information sought through the RTI petition.
The State
Information Commissioner C Madhukar Raj has issued the orders in this
connection under section 19 (8) (b) of RTI Act 2005. He asked the Commissioner
of Police to file a compliance report before the SIC within 10 days of receipt
of the order dated July 29, 2016.
According to
the appellant, A Ramana Reddy of Hanamkonda, an RTI petition was filed at
Atmakur police station on July 7, 2014 seeking the details of progress of a
case related to issuing illegal pattadar passbooks by local revenue officials.
An FIR under
crime number 169/13 was registered at the police station on June 12, 2013
following directions from first additional JFMC court in Warangal.
The Public
Information Officer (PIO) who happens to the Circle Inspector of the police
station failed to provide information even though more than one year passed
since the application was made.
Following
which the appellant Ramana Reddy approached the SIC in Sep 2014 responding to
which the Information Commission for four times has summoned the PIO and
concerned Assistant Police Commissioner (ACP) who happens to be first appellate
authority in RTI cases for hearing.
The PIO
appeared before the SIC only once and failed to provide information claiming
that revealing the information could impede the investigation.
The PIO also
failed to appear before the commission for a recent hearing called on June 28.
The SIC took the absence of the police official at the hearing seriously and
directed a show-cause to the PIO Ravi Kumar and asked him to reply to the
notice.
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