4 Bihar PIOs fined for not providing information

The fines ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 were slapped on two Block Development Officers (BDOs), one Circle Officer (CO) and one Station House Officer (SHO) for either not furnishing information.

Patna, Oct 20: Bihar State Information Commission today imposed fines on four Public Information Officers (PIOs) for not furnishing information or not doing it timely to applicants under the RTI Act.

The fines ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 were slapped on two Block Development Officers (BDOs), one Circle Officer (CO) and one Station House Officer (SHO) for either not furnishing information or failure to provide timely information to the applicants.The four officials are also PIOs.

The case pertains to 2012-13 and 2013-14 when the applicants had sought information from these PIOs, the State Information Commission said in a statement.

Information Commissioner V K Verma imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Danapur CO in Patna district for not furnishing information.

He also slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on Barauni Refinery police station SHO for his failure to provide timely information to the applicant.

The Commission fined Rs 20,000 on Kusheshwar Asthan BDO in Darbhanga district for not providing timely information and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Goh BDO in Aurangabad district for not providing information to the applicant.

The Commission said that copies of the order have been sent to District Magistrates of the four districts so that the amount of fine can be deducted from the PIOs' salaries.

The matter would be heard on April 3 next year.

PTI