Irregularities committed by then XEn, several BDOs
*Says such grave cases call for public scrutiny
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Sept 3: Central Information Commission (CIC) has reprimanded the Department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for not furnishing to the applicant the information about the irregularities committed by the then Executive Engineer of Rural Engineering Wing and several Block Development Officers despite lapse of more than one year.
Moreover, the Commission has made it clear that public scrutiny is imperative in such cases as irregularities alleged to have been committed by these officials have caused loss to the Government exchequer.
The case before the Central Information Commission was that an application under Right to Information Act was filed before the Public Information Officer (PIO) in the Directorate of Rural Development Jammu on June 19, 2019 seeking copies of the charge-sheets served upon the then Incharge Executive Engineer of Rural Engineering Wing (REW) Jammu Rajesh Gupta and action taken report against all the Block Development Officers of the erstwhile Jammu district.
The applicant had also sought information about the outcome of the enquiry conducted by the then Assistant Commissioner Development, Udhampur into these irregularities. As the applicant could not get information even after approaching the First Appellate Authority, he finally knocked the doors of the Central Information Commission.
Though Assistant Commissioner Development and First Appellate Authority in the Directorate of Rural Development Jammu Amit Vermani, Assistant Commissioner Development Samba Sidharath Dhiman and present Executive Engineer-cum-Public Information Officer in REW Jammu Ram Singh appeared before the Central Information Commission through video-conference yet they failed to give any plausible reason for delay of over one year in furnishing information to the applicant.
On the perusal of facts on record, the Information Commissioner Divya Prakash Sinha observed, “the information sought is squarely hit by the exemption of Section 8(1)(j) of the Right to Information Act as it seeks details of charge-sheet issued to third parties and action taken against them”.
“However, even as appellant has not specifically urged larger public interest in the disclosure of the information, the Commission takes suo moto cognizance of the larger public interest involved in the subject matter of the information sought as it entails allegations of irregularities caused in rural development works at the cost of Government exchequer against not one but an entire chain of officers which includes all Block Development Officers of Jammu/Samba district and this calls for grave concern and public scrutiny”, the Information Commissioner further observed.
Stating that the Commission was convinced that till date complete and proper information has not been provided to the appellant by either of the holders of information, the Information Commissioner said, “unwarranted confusion has been created by the Directorate of Rural Development in the absence of any consolidated reply or reasons recorded for not providing reply to the applicant”.
Taking grave exception to the improper and incomplete disposal of the RTI application by the Directorate of Rural Development, the Central Information Commission deems Assistant Commissioner Development and First Appellate Authority as the Public Information Officer in the matter to facilitate ease of access to information without causing any further delay.
Accordingly, the CIC has directed the deemed PIO to consolidate available information on all paragraphs of the RTI application after accessing the relevant records from their concerned holder and provide a reply to the appellant.
“For the sake of clarity, the deemed PIO will provide the information vis-a-vis copy of charge-sheet served upon the then Executive Engineer REW Jammu Rajesh Gupta; extract of the final outcome/action taken report against various BDOs for irregularities in works executed under their respective blocks; copy of charge-sheet served separately to the BDOs; copy of enquiry report submitted to Secretary, Rural Development Department by the then Assistant Commissioner Development Udhampur to ascertain irregularities committed by the BDOs of erstwhile Jammu district”, reads the order of the Central Information Commission, the copy of which is available with EXCELSIOR.
“In the event the information is not available on record for either of the paragraphs of the RTI application in parts or as a whole, a categoric statement to that effect shall be provided to the applicant by the deemed PIO”, the order further reads.
It has further been mentioned that the deemed PIO will be at liberty to serve a copy of this order to the concerned record holders while seeking their assistance for ensuring timely compliance of the directions. “It is strictly incumbent on the deemed PIO to provide a consolidated reply on all paragraphs of the RTI applicant directly to the appellant and refrain from delegating the responsibility to avoid any further lags or confusion in the provision of information”, the CIC has made it clear.
The Commission has given 30 days time to the deemed PIO to implement the order and submit a compliance report along with the proof of dispatch of information to the applicant.
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