Making it clear that ignorance of the information dissemination mechanism under RTI was not a valid excuse available to information officers, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has upheld an order imposing penalty on a senior official of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for delay in responding to an application. In a recent order, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah maintained the commission’s decision asking M L Kumbhare, Director (Geo-Chem), GSI, to shell out Rs 17,500 for his unjustified delay in furnishing required details to an information seeker.Kumbhare had also failed to justify his act in the CIC’s show-cause notice against him. The GSI officer had approached the CIC, seeking clemency on the ground that he was a technical person involved in a research project of the GSI and that no training had been imparted to him on the Right to Information Act. Kumbhare further claimed that he was not aware of the legal technicalities under the RTI Act and that he was appointed as the Public Information Officer (PIO) in addition to his works, making it difficult for him to stick to the requirements under the Act.Unmoved by his contentions, the CIC held that no new ground was adduced by Kumbhare to substantiate reconsideration of the penalty against him.
