Karnataka SIC imposes a penalty of Rs. 15,000/- on a college
22 Mar, 2014Umapathi had filed an application under the Right to Inforamtion (RTI) Act seeking some information from the Basaveshwara Engineering College, Bagalkot but the college management did not provided the same to him. Even though the college receives government aid and has a fee structure similar to government colleges, the management claimed that they did not come under ambit of the RTI Act. The college also abide by the rules followed other government colleges.
Upon refusal of information, the applicant approached the Karnataka State Information Commission (SIC) which ruled that the college is a pubic authority covered under the RTI Act, as it enjoyed government aid and other benefits.
The Information Commissioner M R Pujar directed the college principal Dr R N Herakal to provide the information but the same were not complied with even though there was no stay order from the High Court. Observing that the respondent had not filed his written application for the show-cause notice despite being given three opportunities, the Karnataka SIC held that the principal has no explanation to offer for the show-cause notice. The SIC imposed a penalty of Rs 15,000 on Herakal and granted a compensation of Rs. 1000/- to the applicant for the loss and other detriments suffered by him.