Madurai Kamaraj University penalised for refusing to divulge information under RTI
28 May, 2013An application was filed with the Madurai Kamaraj University under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get information regarding the details of application forms of candidates, who were appointed as faculty members in various departments of the university between 2008 and 2011.
As the university didn’t provide the sought information, the matter was brought before the state information commission (SIC) which ordered the university authorities to provide the demanded information to the appellant.
However, the information was still not provided and the SIC had to pass another order on February 2, 2013 in this regard. The SIC also issued a show cause notice to the public information officer (PIO) of the university as to why action should not be taken against him. Despite this, the PIO neither provided the requisite information to the appellant nor did he respond to the show cause notice.
The SIC assumed that there was no explanation on the part of the PIO under Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act and ordered that the information be provided to the appellant within 10 days and that a sum of Rs. 25,000 be collected from the concerned PIO and credited to the government as penalty. However, 10 days have already passed since the SIC verdict and the appellant Ismail, is yet to receive the reply from the university.