Punjab State Information Commission on Thursday slapped a penalty on Punjab Police public information officer (PIO) for causing delay in providing information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The panel also awarded Rs 2,000 compensation to appellant.
The Commission, during the hearing of a case, has held PIO in the office of ADGP (Administration) Punjab Police headquarters guilty of not providing the information under RTI Act to the appellant in specified time period.
“The award of compensation to the appellant was pronounced by the Chief Information Commissioner SS Channy during the hearing of an appeal in the case of Chandigarh-resident Arshdeep Singh Sivia Vs Public Information Officer in the office of IGP headquarters, Sector-9 Chandigarh and First Appellate Authority, office of ADGP (Admn) Punjab Police Headquarters, Sector 9, Chandigarh.
During the hearing of the case, it was submitted that the requisite information was not supplied to him which was urgently required by him as it has to be produced in a case pending in the Punjab and Haryana HC. The appellant stated that because of that, he suffered a lot of hardship in the case. He requests that a suitable compensation be awarded to him.
Pronouncing the judgment, the Chief Information Commissioner held, “It is noted with concern that the respondents have sought adjournment of the case a number of times to enable them to supply the information to the appellant but the information has not been supplied to the appellant till date, thus causing undue harassment and embarrassment to the appellant. Therefore, in view of the loss and detriment suffered by the appellant, I find full justification in awarding him a suitable compensation.”