Bengaluru: In a decisive move, the Karnataka Information Commission has levied fines totaling ₹1,25,000 on Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) officials for neglecting their responsibilities under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Umesh, the Deputy Secretary-1 at BDA, has been fined ₹1 lakh in four separate cases for failing to provide requested information. Similarly, C.L. Shivakumar, Secretary of BDA, faces a ₹25,000 penalty for not complying with an information request in another case.
As per Section 4 of the RTI Act, all public authorities are mandated to periodically publish their responsibilities and related information on their official websites. This directive has been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court, which emphasized the necessity for public authorities to regularly update and disclose information as per the provisions of the RTI Act. Despite the act being in force for over 20 years, many public authorities still do not adhere to these requirements, prompting the Supreme Court’s critical ruling. The Information Commission regarded the BDA officials’ non-compliance as a serious issue and acted accordingly by imposing fines.
The reprimand arose after four individuals, namely Takshak, Tanwita Gaur, Ashwija P, and Balachandra Rao, filed separate requests seeking information regarding the management of RTI Act Section 4 at Umesh’s office. Allegations of negligence emerged as Umesh failed to respond to these requests appropriately. After the complainants escalated the matter to the Information Commission, it issued a show-cause notice to Umesh, yet he continued to withhold the information. In light of this continued negligence, the commission imposed a total fine of ₹1 lakh on him and also issued a notice questioning why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him for flouting the RTI Act.
In a related case, an individual named Suresh Chandra Babu sought a government order copy concerning the powers of additional land acquisition officials by submitting an RTI application to Shivakumar. However, similar to Umesh, Shivakumar failed to provide the requested documents, leading the complainant to appeal to the Information Commission. Following its investigation, the commission fined Shivakumar ₹25,000 and issued a show-cause notice, warning that disciplinary action would be recommended to the government if the requested documents were not supplied promptly.
ಇದನ್ನೂ ಓದಿ: ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಆಯೋಗ: ಬಿಡಿಎ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಯೊಬ್ಬರಿಗೆ 4 ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕ ಪ್ರಕರಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ 1 ಲಕ್ಷ ರೂ ದಂಡ, ಮತ್ತೊಬ್ಬ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗೆ 25 ಸಾವಿರ ರೂ ದಂಡ
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