UP Information Officer Asked To Serve Mid-Day Meals As 'Punishment' For Delay In RTI Reply

In a rather unusual development, a public information officer in Uttar Pradesh was asked to feed mid-day meals to 250 school students in Ghazipur as 'punishment' for delaying an RTI reply.

Chandrika Prasad, a public information officer in Ghazipur district was given the 'punishment' by the Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission.

BCCL/ Representational Image

Here is what happened

According to a PTI report, one Bhupendra Kumar Pandey had sought information about development work in Noonra village in Ghazipur district under the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2016.

However, the village development officer and PIO of Noonra village Chandrika Prasad did not respond to the RTI within the stipulated time period.

Under the RTI Act, PIOs are supposed to provide the information within 30 days of receiving the RTI application.

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If the PIOs do not abide by this order, the commission can recommend disciplinary action under the service rules applicable to them under section 20(2) of the RTI Act.

Following this Pandey approached the State Information Commission which found that the officer in question had, in fact, delayed replying to the RTI application.

Guilty, but not his fault

"Generally, we impose a cash penalty of Rs 25,000 on the PIOs who cause delay in providing information under the RTI Act," Information Commissioner Ajay Kumar Uprety told PTI.

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However, Prasad didn't deliberately cause the delay and has been given a "symbolic and out of the box punishment", Uprety said, adding that the real culprit is former village development officer and PIO (Panchayati Raj Department) Gopal Singh who has been fined of Rs 25,000 under section 20(1) of the RTI Act.

The official has also been directed to record the act and submit the video to the commission while ensuring that the expenditure on the meals does not exceed Rs 25,000.

What does the law say?

According to Section 20(1) of the RTI Act, the CIC or the SIC can impose a penalty on officials if they:

• Refused to receive an application
• Not furnished the requested information within 30 days of receiving the application
• Malafidely denied the request for information
• Knowingly given incorrect, incomplete or misleading information
• Destroyed information which was the subject of the request
• Obstructed in any manner, in furnishing the information

The amount of penalty shall be Rs. 250.00 per day, till the information is furnished or the application is received, subject to a maximum of Rs. 25,000.00. The penalty has to be paid by the PIO from his salary and not by the Public Authority. The CIC or the SIC will give the PIO a reasonable opportunity to be heard before the penalty is imposed.

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