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| Encroachment of State land in Poonch, documents destroyed | | SIC directs DC to lodge FIR against officials for missing file | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 15: The State Information Commission (SIC) has directed the Deputy Commissioner Poonch to lodge an FIR in case a file pertaining to construction of a hotel allegedly on state land near SK Bridge Kannuyan Poonch is not traced . An applicant from Poonch had sought information under State RTI Act from DC office Poonch about the said file and when the said information was not provided to him , the case landed in State Information Commission (SIC). The Public Information Officer (PIO) DC Office Poonch i.e. Additional DC while appearing before the SIC on Feb 13 said that the said file was not traceable and the SIC gave directions to the PIO to locate the file and in case the file is not located an FIR may be filed against the involved officials Information Commissioner Dr SK Sharma directed the DC Poonch.
Case detail:
One Sheikh Mohammad Saleem a resident of mohalla Kamsar, tehsil Haveli, district Poonch moved an application dated 18-09-2013 before the PIO office of the Deputy Commissioner, Poonch under J&K RTI Act, 2009 where-under he sought the following information:-
1. Action taken report of the letter of Additional District Magistrate regarding to stop the construction of Hotel near Sher-e-Kashmir Bridge at Kannuyan Poonch.
2. The demarcation report conducted by the department under the kind supervision of ACR Poonch (Provide Attested copies).
3. Attested photostat copy of permission given after demarcation report to construct the slab of the building mentioned in Para (1) above.
4. State in writing the names of the officer and officials who conducted the demarcation.
5. Provide all photostat copies of attested letter, orders, circular in connection with the state land which was going to be encroached by some persons and which the District Administration knows well.
The PIO (Additional DC) failed to provide the requisite information to the information seeker within the statutory period and as such feeling aggrieved of inaction on the part of the PIO, the information seeker filed Ist appeal dated 31-10-2013 before the Dy. Commissioner, Poonch who is also the First Appellate Authority (FAA) in the DC Office Poonch. The Deputy Commissioner, Poonch/FAA vide order No:DCP/RTI/Appeal/19-20 dated 13-12-2013 disposed of the appeal of the appellant with the following directions:-
a) PIO, Additional Dy. Commissioner, Poonch shall re-visit his reply furnished to the appellant and go through the contents of the application afresh submitted by the appellant and trace the file/documents and furnish the requisite information to the appellant within one month from the date of issue of this order, as per the available records under an intimation to this office.
b) PIO, Additional Dy. Commissioner, Poonch shall also contact appellant and sort out the issue as to what kind of further information is sought by him.
However, the information seeker Sheikh Mohammad Saleem was not satisfied with the aforesaid order of the DC Poonch / FAA and filed second appeal dated 30-12-2013 before the State Information Commission (SIC) wherein he alleged that he has not been provided any information as requested by him and PIO and FAA has mis-stated the facts and even the letter bearing office No: ADCP/PS/450 dated 02-11-2013 has not been received by him.
After receiving the second appeal, the Commission vide No: SIC/J/AQ/344/2013/458-59 dated 27-01-2013 listed the matter for hearing on 13-02-2014 at Jammu office of the Commission and directed the PIO to file counter statement and relevant documents etc. The PIO incompliance to the aforesaid notice of the Commission filed counter statement vide office No: ADCP/PS/706 dated 12-02-2014 in which he submitted before the Commission that concerned dealing Assistants were directed to locate the requisite information/documents so that the same could be provided to the appellant. The dealing Assistants reported that the information/documents sought by the applicant were not traceable.
The PIO (Additional DC Poonch) further submitted before the Commission that applicant was accordingly informed vide No: ADCP/PS/450 dated 02-11-2013 about the factual position. It was further conveyed to the applicant that as and when the information/documents will be located, the same shall be provided to him without any loss of time. As per details available , during the course of proceedings, at SIC the PIO submitted that the file is not traceable in his office and all the officials working in different sections of Deputy Commissioner Office Poonch have been directed to trace/locate the documents/information sought by the applicant. The PIO requested the Commission that he may be given 10 days time to trace the missing file so that the information sought by the information seeker can be made available to him.
The SIC order dated 13.2.2014 reads as :
"The Commission has no hesitation in granting the time sought by the PIO to trace the missing file. In case the file is not traceable, the Dy. Commissioner, Poonch is hereby directed to hold an inquiry into the matter and fix the responsibility of the delinquent official who was having the custody of the file and initiate action against him under service rules applicable to him.
The Dy. Commissioner, Poonch is further directed to complete this inquiry within one month from the date of receipt of this order and also lodge an FIR against the delinquent official responsible for misplacing the file under intimation to the Commission." |
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