Times of India : Chandigadh: Saturday, October 02, 2026.
The Haryana State Information Commission has ordered the Faridabad municipal corporation to pay Rs 10,000 compensation to animal welfare activist and People for Animals (PFA) trustee Gauri Maulekhi for failing to provide complete information under the Right to Information Act for more than six years.
State information commissioner Ajay Kumar Sura, in a Sept 11 order, also directed the Faridabad municipal commissioner to conduct a departmental inquiry into officials responsible for the “prolonged delay” and non-compliance with the commission’s directions.
Maulekhi had filed an RTI application on Dec 23, 2020, seeking information on compliance with Animal Birth Control Rules, 2001. The information included details of the civic body’s monitoring and implementation committee, a master plan for animal birth control, the agency engaged for the programme and steps taken to promote the adoption of Indian dogs.
The commission noted that despite repeated directions between Dec 2021 and June 2026, complete and satisfactory information had not been provided. It also found that information supplied on one of the points was incomplete.
The commission said the application had effectively been “shuttled from one wing/department to another”. It also described responses of the SPIOs as “insufficient” and “evasive”.
The commission said prolonged delay defeated the purpose of the RTI mechanism. “The right to information cannot be rendered illusory by administrative delay. Timely disclosure is an essential component of the statutory right conferred by the RTI Act, and repeated disregard of the lawful directions of the commission cannot be countenanced,” wrote the commission.
The commission also directed the additional chief secretary of urban local bodies to ensure effective institutional mechanisms for timely disposal of RTI applications and appeals across municipal corporations, councils and committees in the state.
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