HSSC told to pay Rs 15,000 as relief
The Haryana Information Commission has directed the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) to pay Rs 15,000 as compensation to an appellant within six weeks for causing detriment to him in getting information under the Right to Information Act.
The Haryana Information Commission has directed the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) to pay Rs 15,000 as compensation to an appellant within six weeks for causing detriment to him in getting information under the Right to Information Act.
The case pertains to an appeal filed by one Vinod Shekhawat of Gurgaon with the HSSC, seeking information regarding its recruitment for the post of English lecturers, naib tehsildar and language teachers (English) in 2011.
The state public information officer (SPIO) of the HSSC in response to Shekhawat’s application informed on November 15, 2011 that the information sought by him could not be furnished, as it had no relation with any public activity or interest.
Shekhawat, then, filed an appeal before the first appellant authority requesting that the SPIO be directed to supply the complete information sought by him.
When the first appellant authority failed to decide the appeal, Shekhawat filed the second appeal before the commission on January 25, 2012.
In response to the commission’s query, the SPIO again held that the information could not be furnished to the appellant as the same had no relation with any public activity or interest, and that the appellant had been requested to inspect the record in the HSSC office, but he did not turn up.
The SPIO further said the record of the said post was destroyed while the requisite available in formation had been supplied to Shekhawat on August 16, 2012, December 2, 2013 and May 5, 2014.
State information commissioner Yoginder Paul Gupta, thus, in his recent order directed the SPIO to submit an affidavit regarding the destruction of the record of the said posts within 15 days.
Moreover, taking a note of the detriment suffered by the appellant in obtaining the requisite information, the commission directed the HSSC to pay Rs 15,000 as compensation under the RTI Act, 2005, to the appellant within six weeks under intimation to the commission.