BJP MLA fined under RTI, to appeal

Ahmedabad, Dec 24 (UNI) A BJP MLA has been fined Rs 25,000 by the Gujarat Chief Information Commissioner, under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, for denying information to a person and asked the district authorities to furnish necessary information to the complainant, a lawyer, within 15 days.

Chief Information Commissioner R N Das, while imposing the fine on MLA Atul Patel last week, observed he was not providing the information about use of funds, though his organisation was a 'public trust'.

The legislator said he would appeal against the order.

Mr Patel, who is also chairman and appellate authority of Vadu Juth Kelvani Mandal in Mehsana, told UNI that the complainant Dayabhai Patel had been harassing him and has misused the RTI.

''It is a clear instance of misuse of RTI as Dayabhai has 20 criminal cases pending against him,'' he alleged.

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