Fines imposed by CIC falling every year: Govt.

Times of India: New Delhi: Thursday, July 20, 2017.

The number of penalties imposed by the Central Information Commission (CIC) reduced by 61% between 2013-14 and 2015-16, minister of state for personnel Jitendra Singh said while answering a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

"In so far as the Central Information Commission is concerned, penalty was imposed in 138 cases in the year 2013-14, 44 cases in 2014-15 and 54 cases in 2015-16. No data is centrally maintained for state information commissions," Singh said. Pinaki Mishra of BJD has enquired about the status of implementation of the RTI Act, and if it was "losing its pace".

Singh said the recovery of penalty amount from penalised officials was done by public authorities from their salaries. "This is a continuous process. The recoveries are monitored by the CIC. Reminders are issued to public authorities when necessary," he said. Singh added that Section 20(1) of RTI Act provides that the CIC can impose a penalty on a central public information officer (CPIO).

The penalty can be imposed where the CIC at the time of deciding any complaint or appeal is of the opinion that the CPIO has, without any reasonable cause, refused to receive an application for information or has not furnished information within the time specified, the Act states.