PANJIM: The Goa State Information Commission (GSIC) has issued a show cause notice to the Sancoale Village Panchayat’s Public Information Officer (PIO), Orville Vales, for providing incomplete information and failing to explain the omission, despite directions from the first appellate authority.
The State Information Commissioner, Sanjay N Dhavalikar, issued the order in response to appeals filed by Narayan D Naik against Vales. The GSIC found Vales guilty of not furnishing complete information on four out of six matters and issued a show cause notice.
Vales had supplied partial information to the applicant and declared some information as ‘not available’ without providing a reason or appearing before the Commission to justify his actions.
The Goa State Information Commission emphasized that the sought information should be available in the panchayat office, and Vales, as the PIO, was obligated to provide it. Despite the potentially extensive nature of the information, the RTI Act does not permit denial on such grounds.
The Goa State Information Commission held Vales in violation of Section 7(1) of the RTI Act and directed him to allow the appellant to inspect relevant documents and furnish the identified information within eight days from the inspection.
