New Delhi, April 16: The Central Information Commission has come down heavily on the Delhi government for the “extraordinary slow methods” of conducting inquiries, saying “inaction becomes the primary characteristic of such events”.
The case relates to an RTI applicant Dharam Raj who sought information on a complaint regarding embezzlement of funds in the Arts and Culture department in 1996 which was probed by the anti-corruption branch of the government.
The chain of events which came before the Commission during the hearing indicated that the department moved very slowly on the complaint, a fact which irked Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi.
“It is evident that ACB itself first took three years to conduct the inquiries and then kept the report for over a year before forwarding it to the Vigilance Department … It appears that the Vigilance Department sent the report to the Principle Secretary Art Culture and Language in 2001 (five years after complaint was filed),” Gandhi mentioned while ordering the disclosure of all details to the applicant.
“This highlights the extreme speed with which a department like Anti Corruption functions,” he said.
Gandhi said the Art, Culture and Language Department will probably take “some decades” to decide the matter.
“If there is no substance in the allegation perhaps an honest man is being vilified. And if there has been an actual embezzlement of public funds, the various departments by their well rehearsed slow dance movements are effectively colluding in ensuring that no action has been taken against the guilty,” he said.
-PTI