BANGALORE: Karnataka Information Commission imposed a fine of Rs 1.1 lakh on a revenue officer who failed to furnish details as per the rules of the RTI Act. Sampath Kumar B, tahsildar, Doddaballapur taluk, Bangalore rural, reportedly failed to provide details on land records in the taluk to RTI applicants. Despite receiving several notices, the tahsildar had not showed up before the Commission for hearings. In response to the ‘callous’ attitude of the officer concerned, the KIC imposed a fine ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 25,000 in 10 different cases.
In one of the cases, Sampath Kumar had stated that the copy of the mutation register of a particular village was untraceable, and hence, he was unable to provide the required information. “I have undertaken cataloguing and indexing of records and completed the same and submitted the information available with us. The RTI requests were not brought to my notice by my sub-ordinates,” Kumar said. Since the officer is due to retire this month, the principal secretary of Revenue department was told to recover the cost through the respondent’s Pension Fund.