Bailable warrants against principal

Shivani Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, September 20

The State Information Commission has asked the Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, to issue bailable warrants against the principal-cum-Public Information Officer, Government Senior Secondary School, Alamgir, so that she should appear before the Commission to represent her case personally. Besides, a show-cause notice under Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act has been issued to her as to why penalty should not be imposed on her for wilful delay/denial in supplying information to an RTI applicant and why the compensation be not awarded to the appellant under the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005.

Darshan Singh Kang from the Anti-Corruption Front, Samrala, has sought some information about the school/working. Information was not provided to Kang for more than 10 months. Meanwhile, the applicant approached the State Information Commission. On the last hearing of the case on August 29 at Chandigarh, a letter was sent to the Commission by the principal-cum-PRO of the school, stating that the appellant is unnecessarily harassing her. She also requested that she should be exempted from personal hearing due to “danger to her life from the appellant”.

During hearing of the case on July 24, the PIO was directed to appear personally and bring the original record before the Commission but she never turned up. The State Information Commissioner, Vinay Kapoor Mehra, observed that the PIO had no regard to the orders of the Commission.  The Commissioner has further directed the PIO to file her reply to the show-cause notice in writing and appear personally on the next date fixed (October 4, 2017) otherwise it will be presumed that she has nothing  to say and the Commission shall initiate ex-parte proceedings. A copy of the order has also been sent to the District Education Officer (Secondary), Ludhiana.