By IANS,
Bhopal : Inordinate delay in providing information, sought under the provisions of RTI Act, has proved dear for three officials in Madhya Pradesh. They have been fined Rs. 25,000 each, official sources said.
“State information commissioners D.C. Jugran and Mahesh Pandey have in separate orders passed Friday imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 each on three officers for causing inordinate delay in providing information to applicants,” said an official.
Jugran imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on state administrative service officer Meenakshi Singh, then additional collector of Balaghat district.
Pandey imposed a similar penalty on Guna district education officer R.A. Nikhra and PWD executive engineer Pramod Kumar Saraswat for having failed to provide information to applicants.
Mahendra Deshmukh of Balaghat district had July 22, 2006, sought information about selling of tribal land from the office of then additional collector Singh but to no avail. Singh is presently posted in Guna as joint collector and land acquisition officer with Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL).
Considering denial of information by the Singh an act of serious indiscipline, Jugran asked her to deposit Rs.25,000 within a month.
Nikhra was fined for his failure to provide required information to Virendra Sharma of Guna district who had sought details of a provident fund account.
Saraswat had failed to provide information to applicant Sheela Singh on the works of the public works department.