The commission directed the authorities concerned to recover the penalty from the salary of the erring officer. | Photo credit: THE HINDU
The Karnataka Information Commission has sent a strong message against officials who made a habit of ignoring Right to Information (RTI) requests and cracked the whip on a Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) official for repeatedly not providing information to applicants under the RTI.
It imposed a total fine of Rs 1,000 on Deputy Secretary-1 Umesh in four different cases and directed the relevant authorities to recover the penalties from the official’s salary.
In accordance with the provisions of § 4 of the Act on PWDs, all public authorities are obliged to publish details related to the performance of their duties on websites. Even the Supreme Court has issued a regulation that obliges public authorities to publish this data on their websites in order to effectively implement the VZP Act.
The Commission has decided to fine the erring officials who seriously believe that failure to provide information under RTI on such a mandatory process would be against the spirit of the legislation.
Four different applicants have sought information under RTI from Deputy Secretary BDA-1 Umesh regarding the discharge of duties under Section 4 of the RTI Act. As the concerned official ignored their requests, the complainants – Takshak, Tanvita Gaur, Ashwija P. and Balachandra Rao filed an appeal before the commission.
The committee which was looking into the matter issued a notice to the officer in this regard. However, the official did not respond properly even then and did not provide information to the applicants either. Taking exception to the officer’s stand, the commission imposed a fine of ₹25,000 in each of the four cases and asked his superiors to deduct it from his salary.
In addition, the commission also served him with a summons to justify why it should not recommend the government to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him.
Another case
In another case, the applicant Suresh Chandra Babu sought a copy of the government order from BDA secretary Shivakumar on the jurisdiction of the additional BDA officer for land acquisition. The complainant filed an appeal with the commission because the official did not provide a copy of the document. The commission looking into the issue, in its order dated February 18, fined him ₹25,000 and also issued him a show-cause notice, warning that it would recommend disciplinary action against him to the government.
State Information Commissioner Badruddin K issued separate orders against the erring officials on February 11 and 18.
Published – March 8, 2026 7:17 PM IST
