The Central Information Commission has imposed a penalty of Rs.25,000 on the Public Information Officer of the Delhi Government's Urban Development Department for violating provisions of the Right to Information Act by delaying furnishing of information to the appellant on regularisation of unauthorised colonies.
The appellant, Bhupender Singh Rawat, who is convener of non government organisation Jan Sangharsh Vahini had sought details on 13 points from the Urban Development Department.
When he was denied complete information in the matter, he approached the CIC and Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit ruled in his favour on February 13.
In the order, Ms. Dixit said despite two show cause notices issued by the Commission, the respondent official had not submitted a response on the cause of the delay in furnishing the information.
“Despite granting two opportunities, the respondents' conduct seems
reckless,'' she observed and imposed a penalty of Rs.25,000 on the PIO for having violated the provisions of the RTI Act.The Information Commissioner also directed that the penalty levied should be paid in five equal instalments of Rs.5,000 each to be remitted to the CIC, the first of which should be deposited by April 15.
Mr. Rawat, who has earlier led a people's agitation at Kanjhawala in North-West Delhi on the issue of enhancing compensation to land owners for their acquired land, said the Delhi Government failed to provide the name of even a single unauthorised colony that could be regularised despite issuing provisional certificates to over 1,200 colonies and undertaking development works worth crores in many of them.
Accusing successive BJP and Congress Governments in Delhi of only playing politics on the issue, Mr. Rawat said they have also been not serious about the issue of regularisation.
