Maharashtra: Mira-Bhayandar municipal official fined Rs 1 lakh for misleading information commission

The Right to Information commissioner of Maharashtra’s Konkan division has imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on a senior officer of the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation for failing to provide information, forging documents and misleading the state information commission, reported the Hindustan Times.

In an order dated March 13, State Information Commissioner Shekhar Channe penalised Assistant Municipal Commissioner Kanchan Gaikwad Rs 25,000 each for four separate RTI applications filed by activist Santosh Tiwari. This is the maximum penalty allowed under the RTI Act.

Tiwari had filed four RTI applications in November 2021 seeking information about a residential building allegedly violating cooperative housing society rules. Gaikwad, who was also the public information officer for Ward 4 of the corporation, did not respond to the requests or follow an order from the first appellate authority in December 2021.

When the case reached the commission on second appeal, Gaikwad was summoned for a hearing. She claimed she had prepared a response in January 2022 but forgot to send it to Tiwari, the Hindustan Times reported. However, the commission found the explanation to be false.

Channe’s order, accessed by the Hindustan Times, states: “The reply she [Gaikwad] claims to have prepared in January 2022 has the reference of a commission summons dated January 2025. This clearly means that the ‘reply’ prepared by the...

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