Info panel direct compensation after service records not provided on time

The state information commission (SIC), in an order, directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to compensate an RTI applicant with Rs 1,000 for not providing timely information of service records of its engineers.

The order was passed on December 3 by the state chief information commissioner, Sumit Mullick. Mullick passed the order after the appeal was filed on August 16, 2017, and came up for hearing on December 3.

Chetan Kothari, the RTI applicant had sought details of service records and other details of an assistant engineer and another executive engineer. The information was sought from the D ward office where they were posted.

The D ward said that since one of the officers had recently come from P/South office, his application was transferred to the other ward. The public information officer stated that information cannot be shared as it is exempted under the RTI Act for being personal and having no relation to public activity.

"I had first filed an RTI application seeking information of commercial activity in residential premises and vice-versa. I had also mentioned details of a few buildings that have commercial activities running from residential areas. They did not provide me any information. They declined saying it is voluminous. It was then that I asked for their service records including the work they day, the time for which they work among others," said Kothari.

When Kothari filed first appeal, the first appellate authority upheld the application stating that personal information can be severed and the rest can be given. "I still did not get information and hence I filed second appeal. They made me run around and I had to make a lot of calls for getting information," said Kothari.

Since there was delay in providing information, the commissioner ordered that compensation be paid to applicant to the harassment he had to face for getting information.