Karnataka SIC increases penalty on BMRCL PIO from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 25,000
15 Jul, 2013An application was filed with the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get information about the procurement of sand by the corporation for its ‘Namma Metro’ project. The public information officer of the BMRCL stated in the reply that procurement of sand is not done by the corporation rather it’s the contractors who procure the sand.
Dissatisfied with the answer, the applicant filed the first appeal but did not succeed in getting the desired information after which he filed the second appeal with the Karnataka State Information Commission (SIC). The commission, after hearing the case ordered the PIO to furnish the demanded information within 30 days and also imposed a penalty of Rs. 5,000 on the PIO.
However, even after 55 days of passing of the order the applicant was not provided the information for which the applicant again approached the KIC submitting. The commission contended that the PIO had failed to comply with the commission’s order and ordered him to pay a five-time enhanced penalty of Rs. 25,000 which is to be deducted from his salary in five monthly installments.