BENGALURU: A senior IPS officer from Karnataka has been fined Rs 10,000 for not providing details on action taken against those involved in manual scavenging, sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The officer is Ram Nivas Sepat, then Deputy Inspector General of Police of Karnataka State Reserve Police (KSRP). He is currently posted at Nation Police Academy, Hyderabad.
An order by State Information Commissioner K Lingaraju stated that Sepat had failed to provide the information within the stipulated time and hence, had to pay a fine of Rs 10,000. The commission has directed deducting Rs 5,000 from Sepat’s salary for two months.
According to the petitioner, advocate Sudha Katwa, the information sought was given after more than four years. In 2016, D Group employees were engaged to clean sanitary pits and manholes on KSRP premises in Adugodi. There was a complaint regarding this. After this, then Karnataka State Human Rights Commission head Meera Saxena had visited the spot and directed action against those who engaged the workers for manual scavenging.
The advocate had submitted an RTI application on September 12, 2016, to the KSRP DIGP – who was also the Information Officer – asking what action was taken against those who indulged in such inhumane practices. While the information should be provided within 30 days, Katwa said she did not receive any information from the police.
She filed a petition before the Karnataka Information Commission on June 30, 2017, seeking information on the matter. After many appeals, KSRP provided the information only on February 16, 2021. The information stated that the officials have been informed not to engage in any kind of manual scavenging that the respective commandant will be held responsible if it is found that such practices were carried out. The order added that no action was taken in the 2016 incident.