The Central Information Commission (CIC) has directed the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to disclose details of all outstanding dues towards shopkeepers of Palika Bhawan, R.K. Puram, after it surfaced that dues amounting to ₹7 crore were pending.
The CIC said the civic body was attempting to keep the information under cover by denying the same under the clause of the RTI Act which exempts information related to commercial confidence, trade secrets or intellectual property unless it involves larger public interest.
“An honest citizen who pays his dues cannot be ignored by a civil body by sparing coercive action and extending tacit support to defaulters. Resistance to recover outstanding dues and efforts to keep the information guarded tend to legitimise the conduct of defaulters, besides causing heartburn to the upright tax payer,” Information Commissioner Yashovardhan Azad said in a terse order.
ADVERTISEMENT
The RTI applicant who himself is a shopkeeper in the Palika Bhawan, R.K. Bhavan, has alleged that majority of occupants in the said premises have not been paying the licence fee, which is akin to rent for over decades. He alleged the NDMC had taken no steps to recover the outstanding dues.