It is simply bizarre to be told that neither the Civil Aviation Department nor the State Helicopter Service maintains a record of who travelled in State owned flying machines, when and where. How come that no such record is maintained? After all when helicopter service is requisitioned, the details have to be provided to the service provider. This serious lacuna has been brought out while disposing an application under Right to Information Act by the Jammu and Kashmir State Information Commission headed by Chief Information Commissioner, G R Sufi.
Advocate Vilakshana Singh had filed an RTI application seeking information on 12 points vis-à-vis the names of Ministers in PDP-BJP Coalition Government whose spouses also used State chopper/plane services to attend the marriage ceremony of the then Minister of State for Revenue. The applicant had sought information about the names of persons including spouses of Ministers who had travelled in the State helicopter for participating in the marriage function in Kishtwar. The respondents could not produce convincing answers to the information sought by the applicant and the CIC has referred to the rules that govern the issue and that have not been strictly adhered to. This is misuse of powers and Government property and necessary action should follow. If the ministers violate the rules and misuse public property, the law of the land should supervene. The sanction of Government expenditure and the way of spending expenditure is one of the components of bringing transparency and accountability in the working of public authorities.
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