The State Government has asked the District Collector to inquire into the refusal by two Rural Development Department officials to share details related to transactions in the Malumichampatty Panchayat to an RTI activist.
The activist, J. Daniel of Vellalore, wanted details of 89 cheques amounting approximately ₹ 1.50 crore that the Panchayat had issued in 2015-16 and 2016-17 to various persons.
“After scrutinising the transactions for the two financial years, I stumbled on the 89 cheque payments to individuals. I wanted details and therefore I filed an application under the Right to Information Act,” Mr. Daniel says.
In response to his query, the Block Development Officer of Madukkarai Panchayat Union A. Kulandaisamy, who is the officer designated to reply under RTI, cited a couple of court orders to refuse information.
The Malumichampatty Panchayat is a part of the Madukkarai Panchayat Union.
He then sought the information under Section 76 of The Indian Evidence Act by sending two identical letters to Mr. Kulandaisamy and his deputy - Deputy Block Development Officer N. Bhuvaneswari - in November 2018.
The two officers refused to receive the letters and the local post office returned those to me, Mr. Daniel says. “Even though I had addressed them by name and designation, the two officers refused to receive the letters. This prompted me to write to their superior officers.”
Mr. Kulandaisamy says it was not him but his office that refused to accept the letter.
“My office refused to accept the letter – one, because it was addressed to me by name and, two, because the office saw who the sender was. It was only later that I came to know of it and then I spoke to Mr. Daniel to settle the issue.”
A few days thereafter, on November 14, 2018, the activist wrote to the Assistant Director, Panchayats, at the Coimbatore Collectorate explaining his struggle in getting the transaction details of the 89 cheques.
To his letter, he got a reply from the Assistant Director, Panchayats, that all was well with the Malumichampatty Panchayat administration and therefore the question of sharing the transaction details did not arise, he says and adds that he then escalated the issue by writing to the Director, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.
“I wrote to the Director asking for either disciplinary action or a police complaint against the Block Development Officer and Deputy Block Development Officer as per the Indian Evidence Act.”
Based on his complaint of December 2018, the Director had written to the Collector in May this year asking that the issue be looked into and details furnished to Mr. Daniel.
Acknowledging the receipt of the letter, Collector K. Rajamani says that he has asked the Assistant Director, Panchayats, to place the relevant files before him and by Monday, he will decide on the next course of action.