Times of India: New Delhi: Wednesday, July 19, 2017.
The English
bard Shakespeare may have said 'what's in a name' but for Siddharth Handa, a
misspelt name in government rolls delayed his posting as well as made him lose
out on seniority. Now in a scathing order to the Delhi Subordinate Services
Selection Board, information commissioner Yashovardhan Azad has pulled up the
board and issued a show cause notice to the public information officer for the
delay in response to Handa's RTI application.
In a first,
the order, while noting the "unjust mental agony" and "pecuniary
loss" suffered by Handa, has sought to know why he shouldn't be entitled
to compensation by DSSSB. The order adds, "The Noticee is directed to
explain why penalty to the tune of Rs 25,000 should not be imposed upon him for
causing deliberate obstruction to the flow of information and also explain why
a compensation to the tune of Rs 3 lakh should not be awarded to the applicant,
by the DSSSB."
Handa, who
applied for a post in 2012 and was selected in 2015 through an exam by the
DSSSB, however had to wait till September 2016 to get the job, as his name was
registered as 'Siddharth Manda' on the DSSSB rolls.
Despite
repeated RTI applications, Handa was denied information on why his request was
not being met by the DSSSB, a fact that earned the ire of Azad when it finally
came to the notice of the central information commission (CIC).
"The PIO
and DS CC-II has not only denied information and justice to the applicant but
also acted in complete contravention and violation of the provisions of the RTI
Act and in contempt of the orders of the FAA. Despite the approval of Chairman,
DSSSB for carrying out the rectification of records in December 2015, the
needful was done only in August 2016."
The public
information officer comes in for special censure in the order, with Azad
adding, "In fact, the concerned PIO did not even bother to appear before
the Commission and explain the cause of such inordinate delay in taking
remedial measure."
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