Info official to pay for delay in answering query

[sidmis]

Info official to pay for delay in answering query
as reported by Viju B,TNN | 29 Sep 2008

MUMBAI: This will bring cheer to numerous citizens who are still
struggling to get details of the status of investigation of pending
cases filed at various police stations across the city.

State information commissioner Suresh Joshi has penalised the public
information officer (PIO), who was attached to crime branch's economic
offences wing, for not providing information under the Right to
Information (RTI) Act within the stipulated period to an applicant.

In his order, Joshi directed that Rs 2,750 should be deducted from PIO
S B Mohite's salary, as he had provided the required information after
a delay of 11 days.

RTI activist Chetan Kothari had in February last year filed an RTI
query asking what action the crime branch had taken against the
managing director of Suman Motels Ltd, Surendra Khandar, after summons
and arrest warrants were served on him in the multi-crore Suman Motel
investment scam.

Though the query was filed on February 20 last year, the department
asked for a 15-day extension after the stipulated period of 30 days.
But Kothari did not get any response even after the promised date and
he went in for an appeal.

"I finally got the information in April first week last year after a
delay of 11 days," Kothari said.

He said that thousands investors who had lost money in the investment
scam had the right to know the case details. The multi-crore Suman
Motels investment scam surfaced five years ago after the company duped
tens of thousands of investors who had taken investment schemes
offering stakes in holiday homes, plantations, and resorts.

"The company floated bonds, certificates, promissory notes and even
advance cheques, all of which bounced, and investors were left in the
lurch," Kothari, who is also the convener of the Suman Motel Investor
Forum, said.

The company, according to him, had made unrealistic claims, saying
they would double the investment in five years. Investors like
Chandresh Shah had invested Rs 1 lakh in the property share scheme,
and they promised to double the amount. "But I did not even get my
principle amount back," Shah said.

The police had earlier issued 149 arrest warrants and 159 summons
which have been pending with two police stations in the city against
two top executives of the company.

Info official to pay for delay in answering query-Mumbai-Cities-The Times of India