Times of India: Lucknow: Sunday,
29 September 2024.
The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Waqf
Board has said that it will take action against its public information officer
(PIO) for "misleading" the UP State Information Commission (UPSIC)
and applicants on a ‘dargah' in Bahraich being under the control of the Board.
The CEO of the Board said that in the next hearing, he would inform UPSIC about the action taken in this connection.
UPSIC has at least 11 RTI applications pending in connection with Hazrat Ghazi Salaar Masood Dargah in Bahraich which were filed by various applicants over a period of time.
The management committee of the ‘dargah' had taken the stand that it was not under the control of the govt and, therefore, not bound to provide any information under the RTI. Due to this, applications remained pending with the UPSIC.
Information commissioner (IC) Mohd Nadeem clubbed the applications and held a joint hearing on Sep 6.
During the hearing, the PIO of the Board accepted in writing that the ‘dargah' was under the control of the Board. The UPSIC then asked how could the ‘dargah' be outside the purview of the RTI Act when it was controlled by the Board.
In response to this, CEO of the Board, Mohammad Aziz, took a different stand in the latest hearing on Sep 26 and said that the Board could not make it binding on the ‘dargah' to provide information under the RTI.
He said that it was a mistake on the part of the PIO that he provided misleading information regarding the ‘dargah' being under the Board's control and within the purview of the RTI Act.
When UPSIC said that it would call for action against the errant officer, the Board said that it would take appropriate action and inform the Commission about it.
The CEO of the Board said that in the next hearing, he would inform UPSIC about the action taken in this connection.
UPSIC has at least 11 RTI applications pending in connection with Hazrat Ghazi Salaar Masood Dargah in Bahraich which were filed by various applicants over a period of time.
The management committee of the ‘dargah' had taken the stand that it was not under the control of the govt and, therefore, not bound to provide any information under the RTI. Due to this, applications remained pending with the UPSIC.
Information commissioner (IC) Mohd Nadeem clubbed the applications and held a joint hearing on Sep 6.
During the hearing, the PIO of the Board accepted in writing that the ‘dargah' was under the control of the Board. The UPSIC then asked how could the ‘dargah' be outside the purview of the RTI Act when it was controlled by the Board.
In response to this, CEO of the Board, Mohammad Aziz, took a different stand in the latest hearing on Sep 26 and said that the Board could not make it binding on the ‘dargah' to provide information under the RTI.
He said that it was a mistake on the part of the PIO that he provided misleading information regarding the ‘dargah' being under the Board's control and within the purview of the RTI Act.
When UPSIC said that it would call for action against the errant officer, the Board said that it would take appropriate action and inform the Commission about it.
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