The Tribune: Chandigarh: Wednesday, May 02, 2018.
The State
Information Commissioner (SIC) slapped a penalty of Rs 25,000 on an Executive
Engineer (XEN) of the Public Works Department (PWD) on Tuesday for demanding
Rs5,000 as two-day salary of a clerk and a peon from a person as precondition
for supplying information under the RTI Act.
SIC Hemant
Atri, who imposed the penalty on State Public Information Officer (SPIO) Bhim
Sain, also XEN, electrical division, PWD (Buildings and Roads), Hisar, observed
that the appeal was in “rarest of rare case” category, wherein the SPIO had
imagined and implemented his whims without legal basis.
“The
situation becomes all the more grim as the respondent SPIO is a senior
functionary of the rank of Executive Engineer and has service for 24 years as
gazetted officer to his credit. If an SPIO of such a standing misinterprets
provisions of the RTI Act in the 13th year of its implementation, the situation
becomes all the more regrettable,” he stated.
Sudama
Agarwal of Hisar sought information from the PWD on August 21 last, upon which
Bhim Sain told him that he would have to employ a clerk and a peon for two days
to cull out required information and hence, demanded Rs5,000 towards their
salary.
Acting upon
Agarwal’s appeal, the SIC served a show-cause notice on the SPIO on April 3,
asking him why a penalty of Rs250 per day, subject to a maximum of Rs25,000,
not be imposed on him. Bhim Sain, along with the first appellate authority,
were asked to be present in the SIC office on Tuesday.
During the
hearing, the SPIO admitted to having sought Rs5,000 towards salary of two
employees for two days and Rs300 towards document fee and postal charges. He
reiterated his contention that he would have to employ one clerk and one peon
for two days to prepare information for the appellant.
“This is in
gross violation of provisions of RTI Act, 2005, which simply mandates charging
of information at Rs 2 per page and postal charges and there is no term
anywhere in the name of resource charges in the Act,” observed Atri.
“The
commission’s secretariat is directed to communicate this order to the
Engineer-in-Chief, Haryana PWD (Buildings and Roads), to ensure that the
penalty amount is deposited in the commission’s head office by deducting it
from the SPIO’s salary,” he added.
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