ITANAGAR, Dec 10: The Arunachal Pradesh Information Commission (APIC) has recommended to the state government to initiate disciplinary action against public information officer-cum-divisional forest officer (DFO) of the Khellong forest division in West Kameng district, VK Jawal.
The commission informed in a release that it has invoked Section 20 (I) of the RTI Act against the DFO after he failed to comply with the request of appellant Tamchi Sima for furnishing information and deliberately defied the orders of the commission.
The APIC had earlier imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on the DFO and directed him to appear before the court of the commission on 10 December, failing which, it had said, an arrest warrant would be issued against him and his name recommended for disciplinary action.
On 10 December, Jawal was absent for the third time, in deliberate defiance of the commission’s orders, it said.
The APIC has directed the chief secretary to initiate action against Jawal, and to intimate to the commission about action taken against the officer on or before 28 February, 2019.
