SPIO told to pay Rs 5K for incomplete info

The Tribune: Yamunanagar: Friday, 04 September 2020.

Taking note of the detriment suffered due to incomplete information, State Information Commissioner (SIC) Jai Singh Bishnoi has directed the State Public Information Officer (SPIO)-cum-Drug Control Officer, Yamunanagar, to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation to the appellant (complainant).

Jai Chand Chauhan, an RTI activist, had sought information on several points, including samples taken from shops in the past two years and their results and about the posting tenures of some officers of the Drug Control Office here.

As per the SIC order passed on August 10, the appellant had filed the second appeal on April 29 on the ground that in response to his RTI application dated November 18, 2019, the SPIO provided incomplete information despite filling of the first appeal.

The appellant requested the SIC that the respondent be directed to furnish complete information to him. He also prayed for the initiation of penal action against the respondent and compensation for him.

During the hearing, the SIC found that the information provided to the appellant was incomplete. He directed the SPIO-cum-Drug Control Officer, Yamunanagar, to provide complete information, as sought by the appellant through his RTI application within a month free of cost.

“The respondent public authority, Yamunanagar, is directed to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation to the appellant under the RTI Act, 2005, preferably within a month, under intimation to the commission,” reads the order.

Issuing a show-cause notice, the SIC also directed the SPIO to explain the reasons for the delay in providing even “incomplete information”. He was also told to submit his reply to the Commission’s notice by November 12.