Penalty amount deducted from the salary of the PIO - PIO filed a petition stating that she was not the PIO when the delay occurred - CIC verified the facts and directed that the amount which was deducted from the salary of PIO be refunded to her
10 Oct, 2013ORDER
Facts:
1. Following the orders of the Commission of even No., dated 17.1.2013, a petition has been received from the CPIO Smt. Krishna Kumari stating that she has erroneously been awarded penalty of Rs. 25,000/in the present case and that she was not the CPIO during the period when the delay in providing information took place. Commission was informed that Sh. Surinder Singh Kashyap (since retired) was in fact the CPIO during that period. Accordingly, the matter was listed and heard today. Both former CPIOs and respondent, as above, appeared in person and made submissions.
Decision Notice
2. After hearing the parties, Commission is satisfied that there has indeed been an error in concluding that Smt. Krishna Kumari was holding the charge of CPIO during the period when delay occurred in providing information to the appellant. Therefore, in the interest of justice, Commission directs that the full amount of Rs. 25,000/which has since been deducted from the salary of Smt. Krishna Kumari be refunded to her within two weeks.
3. Commission also takes cognizance of the fact that Shri Surinder Singh Kashyap the then CPIO has retired in July, 2012 and accepts his plea of having made a genuine error without any malafide in denying information to the appellant and drops the penalty proceedings. With these directions, the case is closed. The appellant has already been awarded compensation for the detriment that was caused to him on account of delay in furnishing of the requested information.
(Smt. Deepak Sandhu)
Chief Information Commissioner
Citation: Shri Amandeep Sharma v. Panjab University in Adjunct II Appeal: No. CIC/DS/A/2012/000233