Friday, March 25, 2011

Warrant out against info official in RTI plea case;

TNN; Mar 23, 2011,
BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa Information Commission on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against a public information officer for non-compliance of the provisions under the Right to Information Act. This is for the first time that the commission has issued such a warrant in the state.
State Information Commissioner Jagadananda pronounced the warrant against Asutosh Loknath Ghadei, former PIO of Bargaon panchayat samiti in Sundargarh district. The commission was hearing three cases against Ghadei, who is presently posted in Keonjhar as a welfare extension officer. All the three complaints were filed on August 28, 2009, and Wednesday was the fourth hearing in all the cases.
Complainant Narayan Majhi had accused the PIO of not giving information regarding vigilance committee report of the panchayat samiti, non-revelation of information regarding members of block-level advisory committee and supply of wrong information regarding plantation under the samiti. Confirming the "arrest warrant," current PIO at Bargaon panchayat samiti Anjan Kerketa, who was present during the hearing, said, "The commission issued the warrant because the ex-PIO never appeared before the commission."
In the last hearing on January 25, the information commission had stated that Ghadei should submit a written show-cause on why penalty should not be imposed on him and in case he fails to appear without reasonable cause, the commission reserves the right to issue an arrest warrant or attach property. Besides, the commission had ordered the current PIO to supply information to the complainant.
RTI activists have welcomed the commission's maiden move. "Such a step will act as a big deterrent to PIOs who are not taking the transparency law seriously. This is only the second such incident in the country where warrant has been issued against a PIO. The only other such incident being in Arunachal Pradesh in 2009," said Nisikant Mahapatra, convenor of Soochana Adhikar Manch, a voluntary organisation working to popularize the RTI Act.