Info commission says steps to recover penalty initiated

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 20

The State Information Commission today said it had initiated effective and concrete steps for recovery of outstanding amount, which was showing positive results.

In a written note issued on behalf of State Chief Information Commissioner Yash Pal Singal, the commission said rules notified by the state government earlier were silent about the recovery of penalty ordered by the commission, but now there was no ambiguity that it was to be deposited by the defaulting State Public Information Officer (SPIO).

“On the initiative of the State Information Commission, the state government had notified the Haryana Right to Information (Amendment) Rules, 2019, wherein the Registrar of the commission had been made responsible for the recovery of penalty imposed and follow up the matter with the state authorities,” read the note.

“The matter was further taken up with the state authorities. After this, the state government initiated further steps through a letter on August 2, 2019,” the commission said.

As per guidelines, in case the amount of penalty was not recovered from the SPIO, the drawing and disbursing officer (DDO) would be held liable for the lapse. All DDOs were supposed to recover the penalty amount from the salary of the SPIO concerned and send compliance report to the Registrar of the commission.

In case of failure of the DDO to recover fine from the salary of the SPIO, action under the Haryana Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 2016, would be initiated against the official. The controlling authorities were debarred from issuing last pay certificate to SPIOs till the outstanding penalty was deposited. The authorities were asked to recover the amount from pension in case the official had retired.

The commission discussed the matter in a meeting on January 16 and effective and concrete steps for recovery of outstanding amount had been initiated, which were showing positive results, said the commission. The report “Of Rs 3.5 crore penalty in RTI cases in 14 years, Rs 2.27 crore pending” was published in these columns on Monday.