Faulty info under RTI: Port officer penalised

[karira]

As reported in indianexpress.com on 15 December 2009:
Faulty info under RTI: Port officer penalised

Faulty info under RTI: Port officer penalised

The Central Information Commissioner, New Delhi (CIC) has slapped a penalty on the Chief Public Information Officer (CPIO) of Kandla Port Trust (KPT) for providing delayed and misleading information to a complainant under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. CPIO K C Vyas, has been asked to pay Rs 3,500 at the rate of Rs 250 per day for the delay of 14 days, and for giving incorrect information relating to the allotment of land. The CIC has directed the KPT chairman to recover the penalty from Vyas’s monthly pay-bill of January 2010 for remittance as per the procedure.

The CIC has asked the chairman to submit a report to the Commission after the recovery of the same.

One Shyam Sainani had filed an RTI application in January 2009 for information on the allotment of plots – including residential and commercial – to different parties. The application was first rejected by the CPIO stating that it was third party information and he could not provide it. Sainani then approached the CIC with the appeal.

The CIC issued a showcause notice to Vyas dated 12.08.2009 under Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act for delay in providing information and for giving incorrect and misleading information to the complainant.

In his reply, Vyas named KPT Dy chairman M A Bhaskarachar as the holder of the information. Vyas later admitted to his mistake. The matter was heard on 10.11.2009 via video conference where Bhaskarachar, also the Apellate Authority (AA), KPT and Vyas, were present.

Vyas admitted during the hearing that “he was unclear and confused and, as a result, made incorrect statement before the Commission at the hearing on 14.09.2009. He also admitted that Bhaskarachar was not the holder of the information,” said Jayesh Bheda advocate for Sainani.

Sainani added: “We consider that the information provided by the Dy chairman of KPT is false, and therefore we will appeal to the CIC for the correct information again.”

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