Info panel raps state power utility, threatens penalty

In four separate directions issued simultaneously, the Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has asked the the state-owned power utility, Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL), why it should not be fined Rs 75,000 for not complying with provisions of the Right to Information Act while dealing with various applications made by a Surat-based RTI activist.

The GIC also asked the company's Public Information Office to set itself in order, note down all applications that come to it and update the status of each regularly, while warning that senior officials in the organisation may have to be intimated about the goings-on in their departments.

The commission also pulled up the officers for charging the applicant Rs 2 each for 1,630 pages of information and directed it to furnish the information free of cost.

Activist Ajai Jangid had filed four applications with the GUVNL asking for details that include investigations about faulty cables in Dediapada in Bharuch district, documents related to promotions and mobile plans including bills, features and model details of some employees, their movable an immovable property details as well as of vendors involved in works at Rajpipla, also in Bharuch, and certain officers' log books.

While three applications were filed in November 2011, the fourth was filed in July of that year.

Jangid alleged he had not received satisfactory replies to these. After first appeals with the company itself, he appealed before the commission. The GIC subsequently passed four directions within the last fortnight.

In its directions, the commission asked the company to furnish the sought-for details to the applicant within a specified timeframe and inform it of the action taken.

It also issued show-cause notices to the concerned officers why they should not be fined Rs 25,000 each for three of the cases, as well as to return Rs 28 to Jangid, who had incurred the sum for the fourth case.

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