Hindustan Times: Mumbai: Tuesday, 15 April 2025.
RTI commissioner fines Mira-Bhayandar AMC Kanchan Gaikwad ₹1 lakh for misleading the commission and failing to provide requested information.
In a rare ruling, the
Right To Information (RTI) commissioner of Konkan division has penalised an
assistant municipal commissioner (AMC) of Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation
with a fine of ₹1 lakh for not providing information, generating fake documents
and misleading the commission. The municipal commissioner has also been asked
to conduct an administrative inquiry against the AMC and submit a report in six
months.
In his order dated March 13, RTI commissioner Shekhar Channe fined AMC Kanchan Gaikwad ₹ 25,000 each in four different RTI applications. This, the highest penalty in the RTI Act, was imposed for misleading the commission apart from not providing the information asked for by applicant Santosh Tiwari.
In November 2021, Tiwari had filed four RTI applications on four subjects, seeking information about a residential building violating cooperative society laws. As the public information officer, Gaikwad did not respond to the applications, and did not even pay heed to the order of the first appellate authority in December 2021. When the applicant moved the commission in the second appeal, the commissioner summoned the AMC for a hearing.
During her hearing, Gaikwad said that she had prepared a reply after the order of the first appellate authority but forgot to send it to the applicant. In its order, the commission has stated that the claim by the AMC was false. “The reply she claims to have prepared in January 2022 has the reference of a commission summons dated January 2025. This clearly means that the ‘reply’ prepared by the officer was an afterthought and prepared only after the appeal was scheduled. Thus, the AMC has misled the commission by preparing false and fake documents, apart from her failure to provide the information… The commissioner, MBMC, should conduct an administrative inquiry against her and produce the report in next six months,” the order, accessed by HT, states.
The order, uploaded by the commission last week, also directed the municipal corporation to recover the penalty amount from Gaikwad’s salary in five equal instalments. An administrative inquiry has been ordered into the fraudulent records generated and fake documents created by the officer.
“The application was to seek information related to a high rise that was using residential space for commercial purposes,” said Tiwari. “Its occupation certificate too had been deferred. I wanted to know whether the authorities had taken action against the irregularities. However, the AMC not only ignored my application, but even ill-treated me when I visited her for the information.”
Gaikwad, on March 20, was promoted as deputy commissioner and appointed chief officer of Hiwarkhed municipal council, Akola, by the state government. She did not respond to phone calls and messages sent to her for her reaction to the RTI commissioner’s order.
RTI commissioner fines Mira-Bhayandar AMC Kanchan Gaikwad ₹1 lakh for misleading the commission and failing to provide requested information.
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| In rare order, AMC fined ₹1 lakh for withholding RTI info |
In his order dated March 13, RTI commissioner Shekhar Channe fined AMC Kanchan Gaikwad ₹ 25,000 each in four different RTI applications. This, the highest penalty in the RTI Act, was imposed for misleading the commission apart from not providing the information asked for by applicant Santosh Tiwari.
In November 2021, Tiwari had filed four RTI applications on four subjects, seeking information about a residential building violating cooperative society laws. As the public information officer, Gaikwad did not respond to the applications, and did not even pay heed to the order of the first appellate authority in December 2021. When the applicant moved the commission in the second appeal, the commissioner summoned the AMC for a hearing.
During her hearing, Gaikwad said that she had prepared a reply after the order of the first appellate authority but forgot to send it to the applicant. In its order, the commission has stated that the claim by the AMC was false. “The reply she claims to have prepared in January 2022 has the reference of a commission summons dated January 2025. This clearly means that the ‘reply’ prepared by the officer was an afterthought and prepared only after the appeal was scheduled. Thus, the AMC has misled the commission by preparing false and fake documents, apart from her failure to provide the information… The commissioner, MBMC, should conduct an administrative inquiry against her and produce the report in next six months,” the order, accessed by HT, states.
The order, uploaded by the commission last week, also directed the municipal corporation to recover the penalty amount from Gaikwad’s salary in five equal instalments. An administrative inquiry has been ordered into the fraudulent records generated and fake documents created by the officer.
“The application was to seek information related to a high rise that was using residential space for commercial purposes,” said Tiwari. “Its occupation certificate too had been deferred. I wanted to know whether the authorities had taken action against the irregularities. However, the AMC not only ignored my application, but even ill-treated me when I visited her for the information.”
Gaikwad, on March 20, was promoted as deputy commissioner and appointed chief officer of Hiwarkhed municipal council, Akola, by the state government. She did not respond to phone calls and messages sent to her for her reaction to the RTI commissioner’s order.
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