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Decision No.CIC/SG/A/2009/002355/5495Penalty
Appeal No. CIC/SG/A/2009/002355
SHOWCAUSE HEARING
Appellant : Mr. R P Yadav,
R/o 8647/14-B, Shidi Pura
Karol Bagh
New Delhi-110005
Respondent : Mr. Shiv Kumar
Public Information Officer &
Asst. Assessor and Collector.
Municipal Corporation of Delhi
O/o the Jt. A & C,
Sadar Paharganj Zone,
Idgah Road, Delhi
RTI application filed on : 01/06/2009
PIO replied : 07/08/2009
First Appeal filed on : 08/07/2009
First Appellate Authority order : 07/08/2009
Second Appeal Received on : 18/09/2009
Notice of Hearing Sent on : 12/10/2009
Hearing Held on : 12/11/2009
Information sought:
Certified copies of the self assessment property tax from 2004-05 to 2008-09 filed in respect of
property NO. 8665.
PIO's Reply:
After FAA order PIO replied that record of self assessment and tax is available for year 2008-09
and not available for other year because the facility of depositing tax assessment is on-line or at
regional office. Appellant can have the copy of self assessment record on any working days.
Grounds for First Appeal:
PIO had neither provided information nor assigned any reason for not providing the same.
Order of the First Appellate Authority:
PIO was directed to provide the requisite information to the Appellant within 10 working days.
Grounds for Second Appeal:
Information only for 2008-09 was provided by the PIO where as requested for 2004-05 to
2008-09
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Relevant Facts
emerging during Hearing:
The following were present:
Appellant: Mr. R P Yadav;
Respondent: Mr. S.K.Sehgal, AZI on behalf of Mr. Shiv Kumar PIO & AAC;
The PIO has given photocopies of only one year’s PTRs whereas the appellant had
sought for 5 years PTR. The Respondent states that it is difficult to obtain the five years PTR.
However the FAA has clearly ordered the entire information to be given by her order of
07/08/2009. The PIO has not complied with the order of the FAA and only provided 20% of the
information. The PIO is not offered any explanation to this.
Decision dated 12 November 2009:
The appeal was allowed. The PIO was directed to give the complete information to the Appellant
before 30 November 2009.
As the issue before the Commission was of not supplying the complete, required information by
the PIO within 30 days as required by the law, the Commission issued a show cause notice to
Mr. Shiv Kumar. He was directed give his reasons to the Commission to show cause why penalty
should not be levied on him under Section 20 of the RTI and he was directed to appear before the
Commission on 22 December 2009 at 11 am.
Facts leading to the show cause hearing on 09/03/2010:
As Mr. Shiv Kumar did not appear before the Commission on 22/12/2009, he was given another
opportunity to present his case on 29/01/2010 at 11 am vide notice dated 01/01/2010. He did not
appear on 29/01/2010 and he was given another date for show cause hearing on 09/03/2010 vide
notice dated 01/02/2010.
Relevant facts arising during the show cause hearing on 09/03/2010:
The following persons were present:
Respondent: Mr. Shiv Kumar Assistant Assessor & Collector, Mr. Prahlaad, UDC/AZI;
Mr. Shiv Kumar states that the information has been given to the Appellant in
compliance with the Commission’s order on 30/11/2009. He states that the delay in complying
with the order of the First Appellate Authority was due to the fact that the information was not
readily available and had to be collected from different persons.
Mr. Shiv Kumar has given written submission in which he has stated that he gave the
information to the Appellant on 30/11/2009. He was asked by the Commission why he did not
give the information within 10 days from the order of the First Appellate Authority. The FAA
had ordered on 07/08/2009 that the information should be provided within 10 working days. Mr.
Shiv Kumar states that it took time to gather the information since the receipts are with different
inspectors. There is no reasonable cause given by the deemed PIO Mr. Shiv Kumar for not
furnishing the information with 30 days from the date of the RTI Application. The RTI
application has been filed on 01/06/2009. Subsequently the FAA also gave an order on
07/08/2009 directing that the information should be provided within 10 working days. This
means the information should have definitely been provided by 20/08/2009 but the information
was only provided on 30/11/2009 after the order of the Information Commission.
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Mr. Shiv Kumar has given no reasonable explanation for the delay in providing the
information. Hence the Commission this as a fit case for levy of penalty under the RTI Act.
Since the delay has been more than 100 days the Commission levies the maximum penalty of
Rs.25000/- as Section 20(1) of the RTI Act.
Decision:
As per the provisions of Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act 2005, the Commission finds
this a fit case for levying penalty on Mr. Shiv Kumar, Assistant Assessor & Collector. Since the
delay in providing the correct information has been over 100 days, the Commission is passing an
order penalizing Mr. Shiv Kumar for Rs. 25000/ which is the maximum penalty under the Act.
The Commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Delhi is directed to recover the amount of
Rs.25000/- from the salary of Mr. Shiv Kumar and remit the same by a demand draft or a
Banker’s Cheque in the name of the Pay & Accounts Officer, CAT, payable at New Delhi and
send the same to Shri Pankaj K.P. Shreyaskar, Joint Registrar and Deputy Secretary of the
Central Information Commission, 2nd Floor, August Kranti Bhawan, New Delhi – 110066. The
amount may be deducted at the rate of Rs.5000/ per month every month from the salary of Mr.
Shiv Kumar and remitted by the 10th of every month starting from April 2010. The total amount
of Rs.25000 /- will be remitted by 10th of August, 2010.
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
09 March 2010
(In any correspondence on this decision, mention the complete decision number.)Rnj
1- Commissioner
Municipal Corporation of Delhi
Town Hall, Delhi- 110006
2. Shri Pankaj K.P. Shreyaskar,
Joint Registrar and Deputy Secretary
Central Information Commission,
2nd Floor, August Kranti Bhawan,
New Delhi – 110066
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