Warrant Issued Against Haryana Official for Not Replying to RTI

GURUGRAM: Less than a month after former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur sought stern castigation for officers who delay information under the Right to Information Act, the State Information Commission of Haryana issued a bail able warrant against an officer in Gurugram for not replying to a query on unauthorised colonies.



Taking a serious view of the District Town Planner (Enforcement), Gurugram, not replying to an application under the Right To Information (RTI) Act on unauthorised colonies, the State Information Commission (SIC) has issued bailable warrants against the official.


'A civil society groups said that while the RTI Act empowers information commissions to impose penalties against officers who deny or delay information, this power is used cautiously'.


The applicant alleged that the SPIO-cum-DTP (Enforcement) Ved Prakash Sehrawat issued around 250 NOCs in contravention of the law to facilitate coming up of unauthorised colonies. Yadav also claimed that in this way around 700 unauthorised colonies were allowed to come up in Gurugram.


Earlier, in August this year, the State Information Commission had directed Sehrawat to facilitate inspection of relevant records in the case at his office. But after Yadav complained to the commission via email on November 14 that he had not been provided with any information, the commission ordered the issuance of a bailable warrant against Sehrawat in the matter the following day.


The SIC order said Sehrawat “neither furnished any information to the appellant nor replied to the show cause notice” and asserted that “this shows the lacklustre attitude of SPIO”. Moreover, since Sehrawat also did not attend the commission hearings, it further noted that this “shows he has no regards for effective implementation of the RTI Act”.