SIC issues a bailable warrant against the Sarpanch of the Haryana village
29 Nov, 2014
The sarpanches of Siwadi and Khetawas villages of Haryana had refused information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and when the case came up before the State Information Commission (SIC), they did not reply to show-cause notices issued by the SIC. Now the State Information Commission (SIC), Haryana, has directed issuance of bailable warrants against them.
The case is regarding an application filed by an IT manager in a company in Gurgaon, who while visiting Siwadi village, thought of discussing the bad condition of the road with the village sarpanch. However, when the sarpanch refused to discuss the matter, Yadav filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. However, the sarpanch who is also the State Public Information Officer (PIO), sitting in the Panchayat Bhawan, refused to accept the application forcing Yadav to send the same via Speed Post on August 5, 2014. However, the sarpanch did not accept the RTI application which led him to file a complaint with the SIC on October 27, 2014.
The SIC issued a show-cause notice to the PIO which he refused to accept leaving the SIC with no option but to take a harsh step. On November 17, the SIC issued a bailable warrant against the sarpanch. The order of the SIC read “The Commission perused the case file and found that the show-cause notice issued by the Commission on 27.10.2014 was refused to be received by the SPIO-cum-sarpanch, Village Siwadi. The note by the postman on the envelope is available on record. It is a clear-cut defiance of the Commission’s show-cause notice as well as directions.”