HC summons Ballia CMO for hearing in RTI case

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday directed the Chief Medical Officer of Ballia district to be present in person at the next date of hearing in connection with a petition alleging delay in providing information sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The court has fixed November 7 as the next date of hearing. A division bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Mushaffey Ahmed passed the order on a petition filed by Ved Prakash, a lawyer in Ballia district court.

Shailesh Kumar Tripathi, counsel for the petitioner, said: "Our main prayer is that the information sought by the petitioner should be made available to him within the statutory period. Also, we have prayed for direction from the high court to expeditiously dispose of our second appeal pending before the authority concerned."

The court directed the CMO's personal appearance following no response from him despite being given chances, Tripathi added.

Tripathi said on November 24 last year, Ved Prakash had filed an RTI application with the CMO seeking information on the charges, if any, which people were supposed to pay for getting birth and death certificates issued. However, the information did not reach him within the stipulated time.

Subsequently, the petitioner first filed the appeal with the District Magistrate, the appellate authority. Following no response, the petitioner approached the second appellate authority, Commissioner (Azamgarh division) for second appeal. The appeal is still pending.

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