INDORE: State information commissioner Rahul Singh has issued a bailable arrest warrant against former Burhanpur chief medical and health officer, Dr Vikram Singh Verma, for allegedly disregarding directives and not complying with orders for the past two years.
Singh also issued a showcause notice for disciplinary action against state health commissioner Akash Tripathi for personal appearance for alleged “blatant disregard of the orders”.
The action came on Monday during the course of hearing into an appeal filed by Dinesh Sadashiv Sonwane of Burhanpur on an RTI application he had submitted on August 10, 2017 with Dr Verma, who was then Burhanpur CMHO and public information officer (PIO).
SIC Rahul Singh had imposed a penalty on Dr Verma. On observing non-compliance of the penalty order, the commission had on February 10, 2021 directed him to deposit the penalty amount of Rs 25,000. This wasn’t complied with, either. “This clearly reflects his intention to avoid compliance of the order of SIC,” Singh said in his order on Monday.
In February this year, the SIC had asked commissioner health Akash Tripathi to take action for recovery of the penalty against Verma. “SIC observes that the conduct and demeanour of the PIO and the health commissioner clearly reflects apathetic disregard of the law passed by Parliament for creating transparent and accountable governance,” SIC pointed out. “It is disheartening and disappointing to see officers, who are responsible and obligated to citizens under the RTI Act, are actively neglecting, violating, and obstructing the operation of the RTI Act, which is part of the Fundamental Right to Freedom of Speech & Expression under Article 19(1) of the Constitution of India,” Singh said.
“The SIC, as a statutory body established to promote and uphold the letter & spirit of the RTI Act, can’t remain a mute spectator to such blatant repeated violations of the RTI Act. If such violations are not addressed properly, it will create a mockery of the law and institutions established to uphold the law,” he added.
The warrant, issued using powers similar to a civil court vested with SIC under Section 18(3) of the RTI Act, directs the Indore division DIG to execute the warrant to secure personal attendance of Dr Verma before the SIC courtroom 4 at 12 noon on October 05.
Singh has also directed the commissioner, directorate health services. to ensure recovery of the penalty and initiate disciplinary action against Dr Verma within 15 days of the receipt of SIC order.
The SIC also asked Tripathi to explain as to why the SIC should not report to his disciplinary authority to initiate proceedings against him. “It must be noted that failure to comply with the above directions, the SIC will be compelled to exercise powers as are vested in a civil court by virtue of Section 18(3)(f) of the RTI Act to compel his personal appearance before the SIC,” it said.
