Chennai: Central Information Commission has pulled up Central Bank of India for not providing information under RTI Act and has levied a fine of Rs 25,000 on its chief public information officer for inaction over RTI matters.
“The public authority is directed to deduct the above amount from the monthly emoluments of the bank manager beginning with the emoluments for the month of January 2017 in five equal installments of Rs 5,000 each.
The amount deducted should be remitted to the deputy registrar, central information commission, August Kranti Bhawan, by demand draft in favour of pay and accounts officer, Central Administrative Tribunal” read an order by the Central Information Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal.
According to RTI activist R. Natarajan, the case date back to 2012 and is related to an illegal construction by the Central Bank of India at Teynampet. The ATM structure constructed at a cost of Rs 2 lakh by encroaching the slum clearance board land was locked and sealed by the Chennai Corporation after they found the structure as illegal under town and country planning act. The act of bank officials resulted in wastage of public money, as the structure is now remaining idle for the past four years, explained Natarajan.
“Inaction on RTI matters if allowed to go unchecked would completely negate the responsibilities upon the information officer under RTI act. The fact that the respondent were absent during the two hearings and the public information officer and the senior manager of the bank had no cogent explanation for the same, shows that there was a casual attitude towards RTI issues. Taking into account the totality of the facts placed before us, we regard it as a fit case for imposition of penalty on the CPIO, under section 20 (1) of the RTI act,” Sabharwal in his order issued on December 28, 2016, said.
A penalty of Rs 25,000 was imposed on senior manager and former CPIO, the order added. However, Central Bank of India’s vigilance officer V K Srivastava in a reply to the petitioner said the complaint related to the matter is dealt and closed, as there were no irregularities found.
