| CE's office sits on RTI application, SIC issues penalty notice | | Appointments in PHE department | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 12 : An application moved under State Right to Information Act (RTI) in December 2012 was supposed to be answered within 30 days , but for more than a year the application remained in the custody in the office of Chief Engineer Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department Jammu . The matter reached to State Information Commission (SIC) last week and the SIC issued penalty notice against the concerned Public Information Officer (PIO) in the office of Chief Engineer PHE Jammu . The RTI applicant had sought details about the appointments made by the PHE from the PIO PHE , Irrigation Civil Secretariat Jammu and the Under Secretary cum PIO had forwarded the application to PIO Chief Engineer's office more than a year back but that remained un attended until SIC intervened. One Biru Gujar, a resident of Thathri Doda filed a complaint in the State Information Commission (SIC) on 15.7.2013. Dr. Iqbal Hussain Mir, Under Secretary-cum-PIO, PHE, I&FC Department, Civil Secretariat and the appellant Biru Gujar have been heard from time to time by the SIC .
Grounds of Appeal : The brief grounds of the appeal are that the appellant had filed an RTI application on 3.12.2012 before the PIO, Department of PHE,I&FC
Department, Civil Secretariat. The PIO Dr Iqbal Hussain Mir informed the Commission that as the information was not lying with him, he had forwarded the same to the PIO in the office of Chief Engineer, PHE,I&FC on 11.12.2012 who was holding the information.
Accordingly, it is the said PIO in the office of the Chief Engineer who had to pass an order under section 7 of the State RTI Act to dispose of the RTI application. The Concerned PIO inspite of being informed through number of reminders has not passed the order. The forwarding was doneas early as December,2012. The PIO working at field formation had to provide the information within 30 days as per the RTI application dated: 3.12.2012.
The SIC order dated 5.3.2014 reads as : "It is seen from the rejoinder submitted by Under Secretary-cum-PIO, PHE office, Civil Secretariat on 28.1.2014 before this Commission that the PIO in the office of Chief Engineer PHE has averted that he had disposed of the RTI application way back on 7.8.2012. The Commission has gone through this rejoinder. It is nothing but mis-statement of facts. The appellant has filed RTI application on 3.12.2012. Therefore sending the reply on 7.8.2012 does not arise. It seems there is been some separate application.
The Commission is not seized with that application. As the information sought by the appellant is of high value with regard to the appointment of certain local backward people under the schemes started by the PHE Department for which there is a litigation also going on in the Hon'ble High Court, therefore, it was highly incumbent on the PIO to disclose the information. As no information has been provided so far, the PIO has, therefore, made non-compliance of with section 7 of the State RTI Act and the said PIO is directed to explain why penalty under section 17 of the State RTI Act may not be imposed on him"
The order further reads as :
"The penalty will be reckoned with from the date order was to be passed till the date when order is actually passed. His reply, if any, must reach this Commission within 10 days from the receipt of this order, otherwise penalty will be imposed without hearing the PIO on the basis of material available on record. The present PIO Shri C.P. Sharma, Technical Officer to the Chief Engineer is directed to ensure the service of this order on ex-PIO" |
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