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Of Rs 3.5 cr penalty slapped in RTI cases in 14 years, Rs 2.27 cr pending

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Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 19

Ever since its inception in 2006, the State Information Commission has imposed fines of Rs 3.5 crore on government officials for their failure to provide information sought under the Right to Information (RTI), Act, but over Rs 2.27 crore of this is yet to be recovered. This fact has come to light in information provided by the commission in response to an application by RTI activist PP Kapoor.

In numbers

  • 2006 year of inception of State Information Commission
  • 77,342 no. of appeals, complaints put up before it in 14 yrs
  • 73,871 decided 3,471 still pending

The State Information Commission is the second appellate authority under the RTI Act, but information seekers can approach it for complaints against State Public Information Officers (SPIOs) appointed by government departments for their failure to provide information.

While State Chief Information Commissioners as well as State Information Commissioners can impose fine in cases of both appeals as well as complaints, they can issue orders for providing information in cases of appeals only.

The information obtained by Kapoor shows that 77,342 appeals and complaints came for hearing before the State Information Commission in the past 14 years. Of these, 73,871 have been decided while 3,471 are still pending.

From 2006 to December 31 last year, State Chief Information Commissioners and State Information Commissioners imposed a fine of Rs 3,50,54,740 on government officials functioning as SPIOs and first appellate authorities. However, only Rs 1,23,12,216 was recovered in 14 years and Rs 2,27,42,524 was pending. Among those who failed to pay fine were several HCS officers, who were not paying fine imposed on them in multiple cases.

“This is a mockery of the RTI Act and shows that government officials have no respect for the law and no fear of being fined for failure to provide information. If this continues, the Act will soon lose its importance,” said Kapoor.

A retired State Information Commissioner said the major reason behind delay in remission of fine was lack of budget. He said it was not clear whether the fine was payable by the government or erring officials. “Even in case it is to be paid by government departments, there is no special budget. Files for permission are often kept pending for long before the Finance Department. The government needs to have a special head for fines imposed by the commission,” he said.


Officer or government, who is to pay fine?

The poor recovery, though shocking, also showed lack of a mechanism to ensure recovery of penalties imposed on government officials by the State Information Commission for their negligence or deliberate act of defiance of the Right to Information Act. A retired State Information Commissioner said the major reason behind delay in remission of fine was the lack of budget for the purpose. He said on the condition of anonymity that it was not clear whether the fine was payable by the government or erring officials.

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