Bhubaneswar: Two government officials have been fined Rs 25,000 each by the State Information Commissioner for delays in providing information to an RTI applicant, Manorajan Jena.
Pradeep Kumar Sethy, Additional Tahasildar of Binjharpur Tahasil, and Sujit Kumar Swain, Additional Tahasildar of Jhumpura Tahasil, Keonjhar, failed to discharge their statutory obligations as PIOs, leading to the penalties.
Both officials were PIOs when the RTI applications were filed and didn’t provide the required information despite multiple notices, prompting the Commission to impose the fines.
The Commission has directed Sethy to pay the penalty within a month, failing which the amount will be recovered from his salary in five installments starting February 2026.
Swain has been given 30 days to pay the penalty, or it will be recovered from his salary. The Commission emphasized that transparency is a key aspect of the RTI Act and that the officials’ actions obstructed the free flow of information.
