Central Information Commission Judgements

Dr. Gian Singh vs O/O The Dy. Commissioner (South), … on 24 December, 2009

Central Information Commission
Dr. Gian Singh vs O/O The Dy. Commissioner (South), … on 24 December, 2009
                    CENTRAL INFORMATION COMMISSION
                     Club Building, Opposite Ber Sarai Market,
                       Old JNU Campus, New Delhi - 110067.
                               Tel: +91-11-26161796

                                                   Decision No.CIC/SG/A/2009/002816/6090
                                                         Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2009/002816

Appellant                                 :       Dr. Gian Singh
                                                  C-585, Sangam Vihar,
                                                  New Delhi-110062

Respondent                                :       Mr. Chokhey Lal
                                                  Public Information Officer & BDO (south)
                                                  Govt. of NCT of Delhi
                                                  O/o the Dy. Commissioner (South)
                                                  BDO Office, M.B. Road, Saket,
                                                  New Delhi

RTI application filed on                  :       24/03/2009
PIO replied                               :       21/04/2009
First Appeal filed on                     :       01/05/2009
First Appellate Authority order           :       20/08/2009
Notice of Hearing Sent on                 :       24/11/2009
Hearing Held on                           :       24/12/2009

 S.No                Information Sought                               PIO's Reply
 1.   Information in details and also copies of all the   The copies of all the orders of Block
      orders of Block Development Officer(South) to       Delvelopment Officer(South) to
      remove the encroachment of Gao Sabha Land in        remove the encroachment on Gaon
      C-Block, Sangam Vihar in Revenue Estgate of         Sabha Land in C-Blk, Sangam
      Devli Village from Jan 1st, 2006 to March 15,       Vihar are enclosed.
      2009.
 2.   Detail information about the Plots/ Gaon Sabha      The copy of Plots/Gaon Sabha Land
      Land with Khasra Nos. and Plot Nos. from where/     with area of plots/lands with Khasra
      which encroachment had been removed by the          Nos. and Plot Nos. 3 from
      B.D.O (S) till date.                                where/which encroachment had
                                                          been removed by BDO(s) are
                                                          enclosed.
 3.     Provide the detail of information about the legal The encroachments had been
        action taken by B.D.O(S) so far against the removed in this matter.
        encroachers on Gaon Sabha Land.

Grounds for First Appeal:
Not supplied the requisite information.

Order of the First Appellate Authority:
Not enclosed.
Date of hearing was on 20/08/2009.

Grounds for Second Appeal:
Incomplete information.

Relevant Facts

emerging during Hearing:

The following were present:

Appellant: Dr. Gian Singh;

Respondent: Mr. Ajit Kumar, VLW on behalf of Mr. Chokhey Lal, PIO & BDO (south);

The Appellant had south information about the action on demolition of encroachments
and the areas of the plots from which encroachments were removed with their Khasra Number.
According to the appellant the number of such plots is less that 10. The PIO has not supplied this
information and has instead provided a list of vacant plots. The First Appellate Authority Mr.
Vivek Pandey, Dy. Commissioner (South) is guilty of dereliction of duty since he had not passed
any order in the matter. The Appellant alleges that he was asked to come for the hearing on three
occasions. He went for the hearing on the first time on 06/08/2009 at 11.30am and was made to
wait upto 3.00pm and then sent back. He was then asked to come on 10/08/2009 and again no
hearing was held. He was again asked to come on 20/08/2009 when he waited for above 3 hours
again and then went back. The Commission deploys this behavior of the FAA. It is necessary
that FAA’s respect the sovereignty of the individual citizen. The Commission will take very
strict action against the FA A’s who behave in such a manner.

Mr. Ajiv Kumar states that the person responsible for not providing the information was the then
PIO Mr. Alok Sharma.

Decision:

The appeal is allowed.

The present PIO Mr. Chokhey Lal is directed to provide the information to the Appellant
before 10 January 2010.

The issue before the Commission is of not supplying the complete, required information by
the then PIO Mr. Alok Sharma within 30 days as required by the law.
From the facts before the Commission it is apparent that the then PIO Mr. Alok Sharma is guilty
of not furnishing information within the time specified under sub-section (1) of Section 7 by not
replying within 30 days, as per the requirement of the RTI Act.

It appears that the then PIO’s actions attract the penal provisions of Section 20 (1). A showcause
notice is being issued to him, and he is directed give his reasons to the Commission to show
cause why penalty should not be levied on him.

He will present himself before the Commission at the above address on 11 January 2010 at
2.30pm alongwith his written submissions showing cause why penalty should not be imposed on
him as mandated under Section 20 (1). He will also submit proof of having given the
information to the appellant.

This decision is announced in open chamber.

Notice of this decision be given free of cost to the parties.
Any information in compliance with this Order will be provided free of cost as per Section 7(6) of RTI Act.

Shailesh Gandhi
Information Commissioner
24 December 2009

(In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.)Rnj

CC:

To, Mr. Alok Sharma the then PIO through Mr. Chokhey Lal, PIO & BDO (south);