Non-appearance of PIO on the hearing by CIC before imposing penalty
28 Sep, 2012Background
In response to show cause notice of even number, the Public Information Officer (PIO) has failed to present himself before the Central Information Commission (CIC) and this was the third time that show cause notice has been issued in this matter as previously the PIO had come with the wrong file and was given this opportunity to be heard. The appellant stated that he has received full and complete information after 16 months.
View of CIC
The Commission noted that the PIO was given more than one opportunity to provide explanation before the Commission before imposition of penalty for not having provided information to the appellant for more than 16 months i.e. delayed information by 471 days. Therefore, the Commission imposed a penalty of Rs. 25,000 on the PIO to be deducted at a rate of Rs. 5000/- per month from his pension.
Comments
A PIO must use the opportunity of personal hearing provided by the CIC to defend the action taken by him and provide the reasons for delay, if any. Failure to do so is liable to be interpreted as malafide denial of information.
Citation: Mr. Udaypal Singh v. DDA in Adjunct to Appeal No. CIC/DS/A/2011/000601
RTI Citation : RTIFI/2012/CIC/680
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