Explanation sought from Health Officer, Asstt Secy, CAO, EO
Neither replies furnished nor FAA order complied with for 2 yrs
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 7: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has reprimanded the Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) for callous attitude in dealing with the matters under Right to Information Act and sought explanation from the Health Officer, Assistant Secretary, Chief Accounts Officer (CAO) and Enforcement Officer (EO) before initiating penal action as per the provisions of the transparency law.
As per the case before the Central Information Commission, an applicant filed application under RTI Act on June 15, 2020 seeking information vis-à-vis what was the basic procedure to purchase the sodium hypo chlorite to sanitize and disinfect the localities from the market during the lockdown period—March 20 to May 20, 2020 and which authority or purchase committee had recommended to execute the purchase from the specific suppliers at excessive rates.
However, the applicant was not given the information by the CPIO as a result of which he filed First Appeal on August 18, 2020 and the First Appellate Authority/ Joint Commissioner, Jammu Municipal Corporation vide order dated September 9, 2020 directed the CPIO, Health Officer, Deputy Director Planning and Chief Accounts Officer JMC to provide the information to the appellant within 15 days.
It was mentioned in the order by the First Appellate Authority (FAA) that in case the CPIO fails to provide the information as sought by the information seeker, the CPIO shall be personally responsible for the consequences and proceedings thereafter. However, feeling aggrieved and dissatisfied, the appellant approached the Central Information Commission with Second Appeal.
Keeping in view the facts of the case and the submissions made by both the parties, the Chief Information Commissioner Y K Sinha observed, “the way the instant matter has been handled underlines the callous attitude of the respondent Public Authority in dealing with RTI matters since neither the RTI application was replied to nor was the First Appellate Authority’s order complied with even after more than 2 years from the date of its issuance”, adding “furthermore, no action was taken despite service of notice by the Commission”.
Accordingly, the Chief Information Commissioner directed Shivani Bhan, Chief Accounts Officer and Dr Sanjogita Sudan, Health Officer to provide information as per available record to the appellant and to show cause to the Commission explaining why penal action should not be initiated against them for the delay in providing the information to the appellant.
The same applicant had filed RTI application on August 18, 2020 seeking information about monitoring the execution of construction work in respect of any violation done by the land owners in the jurisdiction of Jammu Municipal Corporation etc.
As information was not provided up to the satisfaction of the applicant, Second Appeal was filed before the Central Information Commission, which on the basis of facts of the case and the submissions made by both the parties, observed, “RTI mechanism in the Public Authority (JMC) has been made redundant and ineffective as neither are the applications replied to on time nor are the directions of the higher authorities complied with”.
“The lackadaisical approach in dealing with RTI matters needs to be expeditiously reviewed and corrective actions should be taken. Furthermore, on closer perusal of the replies it is evident that RTI application remains unaddressed”, the Commission said and directed Surendra Kumar, Assistant Secretary, Jammu Municipal Corporation and Sunil Gupta, Enforcement Officer, Jammu Municipal Corporation to provide the information in accordance with the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005.
They have further been directed to show cause explaining the reasons why penal action as per Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act, 2005 should not be initiated against them for not complying with the timelines stipulated under the Act.
“It is really a matter of serious concern that Jammu Municipal Corporation doesn’t want transparency in its functioning and sitting over RTI applications for considerable period of time is the testimony of the same”, sources said, adding “the Housing and Urban Development Department, which has administrative control over the Jammu Municipal Corporation, should put in place a mechanism for effectively and timely dealing with the applications seeking information as per the provisions of the transparency law”.
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