Gurgaon: Haryana State Information Commission (HSIC) on Monday recommended to additional chief secretary of the department of town and country planning (DTCP) that district town planner RS Batth be sent for an “appropriate training programme”. It also imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000.HSIC has recommended the training to sensitise Batth on RTI obligations, compliance with statutory and quasi-judicial authorities, record management, public accountability and standards of conduct expected of a public servant.According to HSIC, the direction was given after the town planner failed to provide information sought under an RTI for the last four years and repeatedly disregarded directions of the commission.It said he should be preferably sent for the training programme at Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) or at such other institutions as the competent authority may consider appropriate.The RTI applicant had sought information from the DTCP on the number of occupation certificates (OCs) given to group housing projects, licensed between Jan 1, 2007 and June 30, 2016. Batth was with DTCP when the RTI application was filed.Bharat Jain, the applicant, told the commission that the department had not provided the specific information sought. Instead, it had supplied a copy of the Haryana Building Code, 2017 and referred him to the Act, rules and policies available on the department’s website. He said that it did not answer his query.The commission had earlier directed Batth to provide complete and point-wise information within two weeks. It also issued a show-cause notice on Aug 4, 2023, after noting the delay.The matter continued for more than four years. The commission noted that Batth repeatedly failed to appear before it despite several opportunities. It also found that he had not given a satisfactory explanation for the delay or his failure to comply with its directions.“An SPIO (state public information officer) cannot substitute a general reference to statutes, rules or a departmental website for a reasoned and point-wise response when specific information is sought. The RTI Act does not make a citizen’s right to information dependent on the convenience or format in which a public authority maintains its records,” the commission noted.The department eventually furnished information on different dates between 2023 and 2026. However, the commission said subsequent disclosure did not erase the delay and thereby imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 under Section 20(1) of the RTI Act.The commission has also given Jain a final opportunity to inspect records relating to four disputed points of his RTI and obtain copies of permissible documents and asked the department to submit a compliance report within 45 days.The competent authority has further been asked to examine whether any other official contributed to the delay or non-compliance and consider appropriate action under service rules.
