SIC imposes penalty on gram panchayat official for delaying info under RTI
27 Jan, 2014In March, 2012, an application was filed with Neermarga Gram Panchayat in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking some information. The gram panchayat official and the public information officer provided the requested information in June, 2013. However, the applicant approached the State Information Commission (SIC) contending that the furnished information was incomplete.
The commission, on hearing the case, directed the panchayat official to provide the desired information to the appellant free of cost. It also issued a show cause notice to the official as to why action should not be taken against him for the undue delay in furnishing information.
The official filed the reply to the notice stating that the delay was caused by shortage of staff but the commission didn’t find the explanation convincing. Hence, the commission imposed a penalty of Rs. 5,000 on the official. It has asked the official to remit Rs. 4,000 to the state government head of account and to pay the remaining Rs. 1,000 to the appellant as a compensation for delay in providing information.