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Right to Information Act

Govt officials must give info

HC upholds fine on onefor refusal

Staff Correspondent
The High Court yesterday upheld an Information Commission verdict, fining a government official Tk 1,000 under the Right to Information Act, 2009 for refusing to provide information.
The court made the judgement after rejecting a writ petition filed by Mohammad Golam Mostafa, health and family planning officer in Araihazar upazila of Narayanganj, challenging the commission’s decision to fine him.
The HC ruled that any responsible official is bound to furnish information to anybody within 20 days or within 30 days in particular cases after filing of the application as per the RTI act.
The official concerned neither can wait for an approval from the higher authorities nor waste time for any bureaucratic tangle for providing information, the court said.
The HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim observed that the Information Commission is a quasijudicial body and every public servant is bound to comply with its orders and instructions.
The court also vacated a stay order on the commission's verdict issued by another HC bench on September 29 last year.
According to the counsels, Golam Mostafa has to pay the fine to the state coffers following the HC verdict.
Sheikh Ali Ahammad of Fatullah had enquired Mostafa whether Mamun, a murder case accused, had been undergoing treatment at Araihazar Upazila Health Complex between April 7 and 11,2009.
Denied the information, Ali Ahammad lodged a complaint with the Information Commission.
The commission on September 8 last year fined Mostafa.
The official on September 29 filed a writ petition with the HC challenging the commission's verdict against him, saying that he was not aware of the RTI act as it was a new law; and he could not provide the information in 30 days as he took time to consult with the higher authorities.
An HC bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder on the same day stayed the commission's verdict and issued a rule upon the commission and the information ministry to explain why the commission's decision to fine the petitioner should not be declared illegal.
After holding hearing on the rule, the HC yesterday delivered the verdict discharging the rule.
Additional Attorney General Murad Reza and Deputy Attorney General ABM Altaf Hossain defended the state, while lawyers Abdul Baset Majumder and Sayed Ahmed Raza appeared for the petitioner.
As per the RTI act, an official can be fined Tk 50 per day for failing to provide information. The maximum fine amount isTk5,000.
Contacted, Information Commission Chairman Muhammad Zamir said the HC verdict is an important milestone in the implementation of RTI act.
The law has been validated in terms of its potential for contribution to good governance, he added.