SIC imposes a fine of Rs. 500/- on Thane police commissioner office
30 Aug, 2014The Housing Rent Allowance (HRA) of the policemen serving in the Thane region of Maharashtra was held for nearly 10 years. An application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by two retired police personnel seeking reasons for not releasing the HRA to the police personnel in Thane region. There was a variation in the reply received forcing the applicants to file an appeal for the contradictory response. It turned out that there was an ambiguity over the date from which the HRA payment should be made which had led to delay in payment of the amount to nearly 5,000 policemen. The amount was finally released in 2007 as a result of consistent follow up by the complainants and the HRA was released as arrears.
Years later, the matter came up before the Information Commissioner of Konkan division of the Maharashtra State Information Commission (SIC) which looked into the issue of furnishing of misleading information by Thane police commissioner office under the RTI Act. The state information commissioner Thanksy Thekkekara, has imposed a fine of Rs 500/- on the Thane police commissioner office. The order says, “The fine should be paid from the budgetary expenses of the Thane police commissioner's office.”