Tahsildar to pay Rs 30,000 for not providing information under RTI

Indian Express: Bengaluru: Friday, May 10, 2019.

At first he asked nicely, when there was no information forthcoming, this 73-year-old, former Ranji Trophy cricketer refused to take no for an answer. After approaching the Karnataka Information Commission (KIC) in 2016, BS Vishwanath was finally successful in getting the commission to impose a penalty on a government official for his apathy.

Vishwanath, who represented then Mysore State between 1970-74, joined State Bank of Mysore in 1966 and voluntarily retired in 2001. In 2016, he approached Srirangapatna Tahsildar’s office, seeking information related to the sale deed of land that belongs to his relatives and other information under the RTI Act.

His first application was not considered by the Public Information Officer (PIO), who said the information was unavailable. Vishwanath then approached the Tahsildar, as he was the first appellate authority. Unsatisfied, he approached KIC.

The Commission issued notices to PIO H V Satyanarayana and Tahsildar Nagesh. While Satyanarayana appeared before KIC, Nagesh remained absent. The authorities agreed to provide information from 2006-2007 instead of 1996-97 and 1997-98  as sought by Vishwanath. They told KIC  the information was unavailable.

This led KIC to impose a penalty of Rs 30,000 on Nagesh, now working in T Narasipura. State Information Commissioner S L Patil imposed Rs 10,000 penalty on Nagesh for each of the three appeals and ordered the Revenue Department to deduct Rs 5,000 every month from his salary in each case.

Taking serious exception to the answer that information was unavailable, KIC observed that it is the duty of the officials to keep permanent documents safely.

Sathyanarayana told TNIE that Nagesh was attending another court hearing. “We have registered a complaint in Srirangapatna Town police, who have issued only endorsement (NCR) and FIR is not yet registered,” he said.

Tahsildar Nagesh said he had been transferred due to the Lok Sabha polls. “I will consult legal experts for filing of appeal against the Commission’s orders,” Nagesh said, adding that he was not working in Srirangapatna when the Commission issued the show-cause notice in 2018.