The State Information Commission (SIC) has fined a former official of the University of Kerala for withholding information sought by a retired professor under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
State Information Commissioner K.L. Vivekanandan, in his order, imposed a fine of ₹25,000 on former joint registrar (administration) P. Raghavan, who was also the then State Public Information Officer (SPIO) of the university.
Invoking provisions of the RTI Act, the appellant, Immanuel Thomas, former head of department of Psychology, had sought details of the contentious Syndicate decision of June 2020 in which he was ‘removed from all academic activities related with the department and barred from entering the campus without permission of the university’.
‘Denial of rights’
The SIC observed that the denial of entry for the retired professor to the campus amounted to a serious violation of his human rights and fundamental rights. Faulting Dr. Raghavan for his “callous attitude and gross wilful negligence”, the commission lashed out at the respondent for flouting the law by shifting responsibility to his subordinates.
‘Irrelevant papers shared’
In response to his application under the RTI Act that contained 11 questions, the respondent shared some “irrelevant papers long after the stipulated period”. The SIC also found the second respondent, the Registrar who is the appellate authority, to have failed in his obligatory duties under the Act.
The particular case had two years ago prompted the then Chief Information Commissioner Vinson M. Paul to direct the Vice Chancellor to organise a training programme for the university staff, especially the SPIO and the appellate authority, after finding them to have acted in a manner that defeated the purpose and objectives of the RTI Act.
